It's Always Been You
by 9BasketCase5
Summary: Jily, Black/OC. Just another one of those stories. Lemons and Language.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I know there have been/still are a few formatting errors. Bear with me as I try to figure it out. ~~Since the first day I put this up, it has had some HUGE issues with the chapter's formatting...I can't believe nobody told me. Anyways, enjoy!

*Sirius

_"Hmm, a true rebel we have here,"_ the Sorting Hat said thoughtfully. _"With your lineage, Slytherin would fit you well._ I cringed._ But you have the loyalty of a true Hufflepuff-"_

"Merlin no," I thought to myself. I swear the hat chuckled.

_"-and the natural wisdom of a Ravenclaw. But above all that, I think you belong in… _**GRYFFINDOR!**"

I sighed, half relief as I joined my cheering house at the long table, a fourth in smugness, and a fourth terror at what my family may or may not do. I watched as Collins, Annabel got sorted into Ravenclaw. I sat impatiently through the rest of the sorting, hoping that the feast was as magnificent as it was rumored to be. I grinned as James Potter joined me, sitting next to me and slapping me on the back.

"I knew you couldn't be like the rest of your family. Slytherins are just not that pleasant," James informed me.

"You're telling me," I mumbled, thinking of all the times I received the Cruciatus Curse as a punishment.

"Nice," James stated in appreciation as a massive amount of food appeared on the tables.

I grinned as I watched James shovel food into his mouth. _I think I just found the brother I always wanted Regulus to be…_

"Look at her," James whispered, nudging me with his elbow.

I glanced up, asking, "Who?" My eyes were immediately drawn to a pretty girl just down the table from us, with long curling dark brunette hair and gray eyes beautiful enough to rival my own.

"That redhead. Her name is Lily Evans," James whispered.

I glanced at him, and was surprised that he had some sort of dreamy expression on his face. I snickered. "Love at first sight, mate?"

He turned and to my surprise turned slightly pink. "Of course not…"

oO0Oo

"Hey, wait," I said to the brunette haired girl, who until now had blended into the crowd of Gryffindors migrating to the common room after dinner.

"Yes?" she said, raising an eyebrow as she took in my appearance.

"What's your name?" I asked. She was pretty, with straight white teeth, big dark eyelashes that perfectly framed those gorgeous eyes, long, silky dark hair. Just as I had seen earlier.

"Jessy." And with that she took off, up the stairs and towards the girls' dormitories.

oO0Oo

"Let's do it," I whispered. "Three, two, one." I waved my wand, and between James and I, the first year Slytherins all one by one, had gummy worms for fingers. The screams of panic started, and we jumped against the wall as they started running in the direction of the Hospital Wing. "This cloak sure comes in handy," I said, hardly getting the words out through my laughter.

"To success at a fourth year transfiguration spell," I whispered to James at dinner that night.

He grinned. "To Gryffindor." We clanked our goblets together, and ate a cheerful dinner, laughing at Peter's attempt at a potion earlier that day which then melted his cauldron into a puddle by the time Slughorn arrived.

oO0Oo

"Hi, Sirius," I heard my name as James and I were walking to Charms. Looking, I couldn't tell who the girl was, because there were three of them, all giggling madly. I grinned, to tell you the truth a bit flattered.

"Hey, ladies," I said with a wink. They ran off, still giggling.

"You too?" James asked, a bit confused. "That happened to me when I left the loo yesterday, but a couple of Ravenclaws. What's gotten into them?"

oO0Oo

"Hey, Sirius," I heard a female voice say. I whipped around, not wanting to be caught in the library.

"Oh, uh, hi." I didn't know the girl's name, but she was pretty. Her uniform indicated that she was from Ravenclaw.

"What are you doing in the restricted section?" She walked towards me.

"Um, just looking for a book." I didn't mention that I wasn't supposed to be here.

"Well, would you mind getting that book, with the blue spine, down for me?"

I thought it was odd how close she was to me. Our heads were the same height, so I was confused as I easily grabbed the book from the shelf. "Here you go," I said, handing her the book. She leaned in and kissed me, and I let her.

oO0Oo

"I'm telling you, she was just…on me. I couldn't do anything, she just kissed me." James rolled his eyes, but was grinning nonetheless. "And then when I didn't stop her, she kissed me again, and," I raised my voice boastfully, "she used _tongue._"

He grinned. "You know, her name was Catherine, a second year."

"Oh, you know her?" I was mildly surprised.

He shrugged. "My parents know her parents, and I've seen her a couple times before."

From Remus' hangings came, "Would you two shut it? We've got a transfiguration exam tomorrow morning…"

As I lay down, I grinned. Little did I know, that night was the first of the stories I would get, soon to become the infamous Sirius Black.

oO0Oo

"Lily, darling!" James exclaimed. We walked into a train compartment that contained Lily, Mary, Alice, and Jessy.

"What do you want, Potter?" she asked, clearly annoyed at our interrupting the conversation.

"Lily, will you go out with me?" he asked fearlessly.

"No." James' smile faltered ever so slightly.

"How was your summer?" I asked. I looked around; in the summer between fifth and sixth year, Mary blossomed. I winked at her, and she rolled her eyes, but grinned nonetheless.

"Fine," Lily said impatiently. "You know, we were in the middle of an important conversation…"

"Excellent," I said. I squeezed myself between Alice and Jessy. James grinned and sat between Mary and Lily.

"Where's your other half?" Alice asked, suspicious.

"Remus is, uh, sick. He got a nasty case of the flu, and so he won't be arriving until tomorrow," James quickly made up.

"And Peter, regrettably, believed a seventh year Slytherin girl when she said a potion was for irresistible good looks. He is now in the bathroom, and will be for the rest of the trip." James and I laughed for the hundredth time at his stupidity, and even Evans cracked a smile.

"So we're spending time with our favorite female friends," James concluded.

"Really, it's too bad that I have to hex you on our first day back," Lily started.

"Aww, you could just say you love me, Evans, and we'll be square." I laughed loudly at the murderous look on Lily's face.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are all the good ones always taken?" Sirius muttered. It was their first Hogsmeade trip of their sixth year. "Maybe I should just be the jerk I supposedly am and steal one away. Who wouldn't come?"

"Maybe they're all taken because they're looking for good, structured relationships, instead of a fling with someone as infamous as you, mate." James wagged his eyebrows, answering Sirius' first question. "I, on the other hand, have a date with Cathy."

Sirius snorted. "Remember that time she cornered me in a library?"

"Yeah, that was five years ago. Get over yourself; you had your fun with her."

"Oy, Wormtail, Moony! Get your arses into gear; we're leaving!"

The four boys left their dormitory. As they reached the portrait hole, they heard laughing. James immediately turned around. "Lily! Were you considering my offer? Come on, we'll just go to the Three Broomsticks."

"No, Potter. I'm staying with my _friends,_" Lily emphasized.

"Why are you so cold-hearted, Evans?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, says the one who plays with girls' emotions for the fun of it," Jessy put in.

"And you're one to talk," Sirius replied. "How many boys have you gone through?"

"That's different, and you know it. I make it clear we won't have a relationship, unlike you, who makes it official and ends it after a day." The sixth year Gryffindors were walking out of the castle, bickering all the while.

"Uhh, you'd think that they'd be tired of ogling at you two," Remus said as they passed a group of sixth year Hufflelpuffs.

Lily glanced over. "I still find it funny how few we have in our year. They," she pointed at the Hufflepuffs, "have twelve girls. That's more than Gryffindor's whole sixth year. They have fifteen boys."

"Well, that just points out that the Sorting Hat really does do its job. We weren't randomly thrown into a group. There weren't as many lions this year," Alice stated.

"Ah, there she is," James said, eyeing Catherine as she talked with a group of her friends. He glanced at Lily. "Sure you don't want to go with me, Lilyflower?"

"Don't call me that. And, yes, I'm sure I don't want to go with you."

"Then I'll see you guys tonight. Later, Moony, Padfoot…" James walked confidently up to Catherine and gave her a winning smile.

"Hey, you guys, I need something to wear, you know, for my date with Gideon Prewett…" Mary said.

"Well, I'm going to the Post Office." Remus said. Lily immediately joined him, along with Peter, and they were off without a glance behind their shoulders. That left Sirius, Jessy, Alice and Mary.

"Let's go, J," Mary said. She hooked her arm with Jessy's and Alice's, and they started walking.

"Woah, woah, wait up ladies." Sirius said.

*Sirius

"You don't get to leave me alone," I said, catching up to them.

"And why not?" Jessy asked.

"I'm Sirius Black," I said, as if I were pointing out the obvious. We were entering a witch's clothing store, and I mentally slapped my forehead.

Two minutes later, Jessy was completely bored. "I usually just grab the first thing I like. I'm not a bargain hunter like those two." Alice and Mary were happily scouring the overly piled racks, where sale items (ridiculously enough) were mixed with the regular priced things. "I'm not sticking around for this." With that she left to a side door, neatly labeled, 'Lingerie'. I looked at Mary and Alice, and decided to walk after her.

"Black, you couldn't possibly be interested in my knickers, could you?" Jessy asked innocently as she grabbed a few things, quickly so I couldn't exactly see.  
He grinned, and shrugged. "Possibly." What I would do with her…

A half hour later and two trips outside to "Make sure Alice and Mary aren't waiting", we were checked out and ready. "You two _still_ haven't found an outfit?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Not for the price," sighed Mary.

"I know him. He's is my brother, he'll be happy in anything you wear…"

"And Frank is my cousin. He would be for you, too, but that didn't stop us from doing this for you last week, did it?"

"If all goes well, I'm sure your outfits will be _off_ and your dates won't care," I said thoughtfully. "I mean-"

Jessy sighed, interrupting as Alice and Mary glared daggers. "Hey, I have a detention to get to, so I'm heading back. See you guys at dinner, okay?"

"Me too," I said, surprised. "With Slughorn?" I asked. She nodded.

"Bye," Mary and Alice said, still intent on looking through the racks.

oO0Oo

"Come on, it's only a stupid game," James pleaded. "Lils, please. Your friends are all doing it, and they don't have a problem…"

"Actually, James, I'm not so sure. And Alice isn't here…" Mary said.

I walked up to her. "But you know you want to," I said, imitating my sleepy voice. It worked, as I expected; she sighed and nodded, not making eye contact with my overly close person. I've learned that if I talk like I'm tired, with my voice all gruff, it turns girls on. It's nearly flawless.

"Fine. If I do this, will you just leave me alone the rest of the night? I need to study."

"Yeah!" James cheered.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked.

"Look around. There's no one here; everyone else is gone for the Christmas holiday. You do realize that we're the only group of friends to all be here, excluding Alice?" Peter spoke up. "That's got to be a first." He then blushed, because everyone was looking at him.

"Alright, so everyone knows, there's a jinx, so anyone who doesn't complete their dare or tell the truth will get nasty boils all over their body, and we will know immediately," James said. "Lily, truth or dare?"

She sighed. "Truth."

"Why won't you go out with me?" James blurted.

Lily glared. "Because you've got the maturity level of a six year old, and you're arrogant and mean, careless and unpleasant. That's why. Mary, truth or dare?"

She grinned. "Dare."

Lily looked around. "I dare you…to go break up with Gideon. In a letter. For real." Mary glared at Lily. Little did I know, Lily was doing Mary a favor, because their date went really bad. Mary was secretly grateful.

"Fine," Mary huffed. She reached in her school bag, grabbed a small shard of parchment, a quill, and a pot of ink, and scrawled out a sentence. Lily looked, gave a nod of approval, and it was sent by an owl that Jessy called from their dorm.

"Now, Jessy…truth or dare?"

"Dare," Jessy said. She grinned, and I stared at that smile, wondering why I hadn't noticed how pretty it was before.

"I dare you to snog Sirius," giggled Mary. "Tongue, and at least two minutes." Her and Lily looked at each other and burst out laughing. I was stunned, and used my willpower I had gained over the years not to blush.

"I can't tell you anything," she muttered as she stalked over to me. "Two? You've got to be kidding."

"Well, when we asked you what you went shopping for, you shouldn't have told us the truth."

It dawned on me that they were talking about the lingerie and I smirked as Jessy paused, looking at me. "Don't be a stranger, darling. Come here," My smirk widened as she turned red slightly. "Don't blame me, J. It's your supposed 'best friend' that is making this happen." We ignored the slightly outraged 'oy!' that came from Evans.

"Oh, shut up, Black. And don't enjoy this too much." I was sitting on an armchair, so she sighed and bent down over me. I grabbed her waist and quickly pulled her down to straddle me.

"Just trying to be comfortable," I said as her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden movement.

She sighed, and tentatively touched my lips with hers. I immediately responded, and soon she opened her mouth, and then we were kissing with passion that I didn't know we could have. She stirred something in my stomach, and a bit lower; I'd never felt like this when just kissing a girl. I really liked it. I ran my hand up her spine, cupping her butt and playing with her hair. Her cold fingers made their way on my shoulders and up my neck, loosely holding onto my cheeks and running through my hair. She sank down onto me, and I was very aware of what part of her was rubbing on my lap.

Eventually, I heard Lily say, "Time's up." I had forgot it was a dare; I liked it that much. Breathing hard, we separated. "Wow," I whispered, so that only she could hear me. I put my head on her shoulder, my hands as if hugging her.

"Yeah," she whispered. She got up and left, back to her spot on the couch. She cleared her throat. "Remus, truth or dare?" Jessy asked. I knew he'd pick dare; he always avoided truth, because of his werewolf status.

"Dare."

"I dare you…to sit the rest of the game in your underwear." Remus blushed slightly as he slowly stood up and stripped down to his boxers. I saw a few raised eyebrows at some of his scars. I casually ran my hand up my abdomen, pushing aside my shirt; covering my tight stomach muscles I had my own variety of scars scary enough to rival my werewolf friend's. I saw Remus' grateful smile as others took in mine, too, from the little piece of skin exposed.

"Peter truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to eat a pound of doxy droppings." Remus only felt slightly guilty as Peter sprinted off to the hospital wing. He returned in a bit, explaining that the nurse vanished it before it spread from his stomach.

"So, er, let's play 'I've never'," I suggested.

"Excellent idea, Padfoot. I'll get the firewhisky."

"Wait, wait, play what?" Lily asked skeptically.

"Basically, you go around in a circle and say something you've never done. If someone else in the group has done it, then they take a shot. The glasses magically fill themselves, so you'll know if one of us handsome devils is trying to lie," James explained.

I think we were all fully expecting Lily to exclaim in outrage at the thought of underage drinking, but she smiled. "I've always wondered what it was like to drink the stuff."

*Lily

"Wow, 'Miss Prefect', agreeing to drink," Jessy whispered to me. I blushed slightly.

"I'll start," Sirius said. "I've never kissed any of the Marauders." To my dismay, Jessy and Mary's glasses filled. Mary grinned as she took the shot, as if remembering a good time; Jessy blushed bright red and glanced at Sirius.

"I've never kissed a boy," James said, staring at me. My embarrassment grew as I watched Mary and Jessy's glasses fill up, and mine remained empty. Sirius started laughing, and my I looked at the floor as I felt my face heat up. Jessy gave me a sympathetic look.

"I've never had sex," Peter said shyly. Sirius, Jessy, James, Remus, and Mary all grinned as they downed their drinks.

"I've never been in love with someone," Jessy said. James shrugged as he took his shot, and stared at me. For some reason, I found myself slightly uncomfortable.

"I've never rode a broom," I said. I laughed as everybody else took a shot.

"I've never got an 'O' on an exam," Mary said. I grimaced as my glass filled up at last, along with James, Sirius, Jessy, and Remus'.

"Here goes nothing," I said. I brought the tiny glass up to my lips, and tipped it back. I spluttered as the hot liquid seared my throat, going down too slow.

"It helps if you swallow fast," Jessy said. I looked to see that they were all looking at me, everyone laughing as I coughed. James looked slightly concerned, as my face just got bluer.

"I'm alright," I spluttered.

After a few doubtful looks, Remus said, "I've never lied to a teacher." I made a face as my glass filled up, along with Sirius' and James'.

"Lily, Miss Prefect, you've lied to a teacher? I'm so proud of you," Sirius said with a smirk.

I made a face as I quickly drank the firewhisky. It was one time, but apparently I wasn't allowed to forget it. I coughed less this time, my eyes still watering from the first drink.

"One more shot, everybody, since we've still not finished the bottle…"

Now, three drinks might not seem like much, but a wizard's firewhisky is very powerful. Powerful enough that I, having three shots, and not an experienced drinker, started to make some very poor choices.

"Hey, you guys, let's sneak down to the lake," Sirius said excitedly. We all agreed, except Peter, and quite noisily headed down several flights of stairs, laughing and hushing each other. Eventually we made it out the front door, which apparently the Marauders knew how to unlock.

By the time I made my way down, arms hooked with Mary and Jessy, the boys were in their boxers, splashing in the lake. "Wait for us!" Mary called. To us she said, "Let's strip down. Our underwear isn't much different from our bikinis."

"Okay," giggled Jessy. "But you do know we're all wearing thongs, right?"

"Yeah, but that'll be part of the fun," giggled Mary.

Without a word, I stripped off my robes, blouse and skirt. They immediately followed my example. I'm not shy about my body; I've accepted I'm not good looking. I'm not the thinnest, like Jessy who could be a size 0 supermodel, but I have nice curves and big boobs. I doubted anyone could look too closely in this dark to see all my body imperfections.

We walked calmly into the nearly freezing water, as we received some stares. Sirius, of course, wolf-whistled and grinned; Remus politely looked away, and James was staring at me. I stared back at him, and he caught my eye and gulped. It was finally my turn to smirk; he was speechless. I walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him deeper into the water. It was glacial; I immediately got goose bumps. "Come on!" I called to the others. I wanted to go deeper to hide myself. James was still clinging to my hand, as if he would never let go, so as I walked deeper, he came with. Fine by me; I didn't want to go in deep and creepy water alone. What if the giant squid came and got me? Soon we were out of proximity of the others, who were easy to ignore. The water was up to my shoulders when I stopped, a few centimeters under James' chest. I looked up at the crescent moon and smiled.

"So, uh, do you go swimming often?" James asked.

"No, not during school," I said. "There isn't a drop off, is there?" I looked tentatively down, but to no avail. The reason it was called the Black Lake was apparent.

"Not for a while yet." We walked a little more, and soon I was treading water to keep my face above. I looked at James, who was comfortable with the water about shoulder height.

"You know, this could be good exercise." I was full of energy, and though my limbs were cold, my core remained warm, from the firewhisky.

"Yeah, swimming is." We were quiet as a fog settled over the lake, and soon we could not hear or see the others. I grabbed James' arm underwater to take a break from treading, and he gasped. I knew why, and in my state of mind I didn't care. His upper arm was cradled between my breasts, his hand resting between my thighs as I curled my legs underneath me. "Lily," he breathed, staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I…I thought you didn't like me."

I rolled my eyes, and giggled girlishly. "I don't. You're just James, and I don't know… you're here. And I need something to hold me up…" I myself didn't know why I was doing this. My head spun and my vision was slightly blurry.

He smiled, a bit sadly. "I'll always be here to hold you, Lils."

I grinned and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He looked like Christmas had come early. I remember saying I was cold, and wanting to go to sleep…


	3. Chapter 3

*Jessy

"Let's go deeper, I'm nipping," I hissed to Mary.

"No, let's not. Besides, you're wearing a bra, that helps… and it's too dark to see, anyway." But something about the way Sirius was staring at my chest told me different. I smiled. I had secretly liked him, for a while. He was so damn fit.

"You know how I've had a crush on Remus?" whispered Mary.

I started slightly; she'd always denied it. "Yeah."

"I think I'm going to snog him tonight. Don't follow me, please, I don't want this to be ruined."

"Of course," I whispered back. "Good luck." And with that, she made some excuse to Remus about seeing something a bit further down the shore. It was quite foggy; soon they disappeared, and I was alone with none other than Sirius Black.

I was strangely aware of my near nakedness. I had on a matching bra and thong, which I had ironically gotten while shopping with Sirius. I frowned as I saw Lily gathering up her clothes, walking with James back to the castle. "What is she doing?" I murmured, more to myself than Sirius. I was debating running after her to make sure she was all right.

"Oh, let them be. James doesn't get enough time alone with the girl he's head over heels for. And this is willing time, which makes it better." He was now standing next to me.

I could see my breath in the air as I said, "But she's been drinking. She doesn't know—" I was cut off by Sirius.

"You've had more than her, surely you're fine at the moment." His breath was warm on my shoulder as he spoke to me.

"Uh, yeah. I guess." I turned to find him, but he was gone. Suddenly, my feet were pulled out from under me, and my head got submerged. I kicked, flailing around, and soon righted myself. Sirius was laughing, and I narrowed my eyes. I shuddered from the freezing water, which was only liquid from the constantly churning creatures beneath. My breath came in short gasps and I loathed Sirius for getting my hair wet.

I launched myself at him, and soon we were wrestling. Him to stay up, me to try and knock him into the water. There was no doubt that he was stronger than me; soon I was holding on to him so that I wouldn't be dumped in the water because we were so deep.

When we paused, both breathing hard and laughing really loud, and I noticed how compromising my position was. I had my hands wrapped around his neck, and my legs around his waist. He, in turn, had his hands on my butt, which was bare because I was wearing a thong. "Let's call it a draw, yeah?" I asked.

"Sure, Jess." He set me down, and I started treading water. We looked up as it started to snow, the first of this year. "It's a bit cold, why don't we go inside?"

"Sounds good." As we walked back to the front doors, the snow came down harder, to where it was sticking on the ground. My hair was turning to icicles from its wetness. "It wouldn't be Christmas without snow," Sirius remarked. I nodded in agreement. We snuck inside, still completely wet, and sat in front of a fire in the empty common room. I quickly went upstairs to get dry things, but my journey was stopped when I heard Mary giggling, and Remus' voice talking.

"Mary is up there with Remus," I said, slightly annoyed as I climbed back down.

Sirius sadly shook his head. "Prongs is with Lily in mine. Let's just wait a bit; eventually one of them will fall asleep."

We sat in front of the fire, which I aimed a charm at to brighten and enhance. Soon we were getting warmer.

"Which of us Marauders have you kissed?" Sirius asked.

"You."

"And?" he prodded.

I sighed. "James, in third year."

"Did you like him?"

"Yeah, at the time. But there's something about him being obsessed with a different girl that made me uninterested."

Sirius laughed. "That would do it."

"Have you ever actually liked a girl? Enough to want a long-term commitment with her?" As everyone knew, Sirius' reputation was as a player, bouncing from one girl to the next.

"No, I don't think I have." We were quiet for a while then.

I was comfortable, with the fire warming me. I leaned my head against Sirius' shoulder as my eyes fluttered close.

*Sirius

I stared as Jessy fell asleep on my shoulder. I liked how she trusted me; most girls lusted after my body, fell in love with my face, but of all girls, Jessy was the one who actually knew me. No girl but her actually liked me for my personality. Jess saw what was beneath my skin.

*Lily

I woke up with a terrible headache. It didn't help that my pillow was in the wrong position; I groaned as I shifted my head. It was surprisingly warm and… hard. I opened one eye to see James Potter's chest under me. What I should do is remain calm and remember what happened last night, but instead I scream.

"Wha…Lily, shh, it's okay. What's wrong?" If I hadn't been so embarrassed, I would have said his sleepy voice was very…nice. Relaxing, and somewhat…sexy.

"Did I… did we…?

James opened his eyes and looked at me. I was in my bra and underwear, and he in his boxers. "Do you not remember what happened?"

"Uh…" I thought. I remember drinking, and swimming, then being so tired, and asking James to carry me… "Oh."

"Yeah. Nothing happened, Lily. Don't be mad, please?" James was almost pleading with me.

"Er, I… Let's not mention this to anyone, okay?" I asked. I found my clothes in a heap at the foot of his bed. I quickly slipped them on, wondering why on earth I had gotten into bed with James Potter, especially since I was nearly naked.

*Mary

I woke up to Remus stirring underneath me. I opened my eyes. We were both naked, and he smiled at me as he got up and dressed quickly, trying to shield his scarred body. "See you," he whispered.

*Jessy

My eyes slowly opened. I was on a sofa, my head on Sirius' lap. He was sitting up, slumped a bit. I shook him awake. "Sirius, we have classes," I whispered. Then, a bit louder, "Oy, Black, get your arse in gear!" I laughed as he jumped. I pulled him up. He stumbled a bit, sleepy as he was.

"Goodnight, Jess," he mumbled. He kissed my temple as he detached his hand, and made his way to his dorm, just as Lily was making her way down the staircase. I glanced around to see a couple fourth year girls looked on jealously. I didn't blame them; Sirius was like a prize to be won, and he had just kissed me. If only he really meant it…

"Have a good night, Lily?" I asked with a grin.

"You! Why did you let me go up there with him? The things he could have done…" Her face was red and her eyes glared.

"And if you actually took the time to get to know James, you would know he would never, _ever_ take advantage of a girl like that. Especially you. You may not believe it, but he is a good person. He's not… he's not Sirius. Now hurry, we've got ten minutes until breakfast." Without waiting for a response, I took off up to our dormitory with her at my heels.

"Ten minutes?" she squealed.

That day I thought about what I had said to Lily. It was true, I mused. Eventually everyone came back downstairs, cursing me for making him or her believe we had classes instead of break. The late night snow had stuck, and we found the grounds just as enchanting as ever in its icy wonderland.

*Lily

It was a couple days after the lake incident when I caught Potter staring at me. "What?" I finally demanded. He jumped guiltily. "Nothing happened, remember?" I said. I was surprised to even see him in the library; usually Sirius and he were too worried about their reputations to be seen there.

"It's nothing, Lily." I huffed, not quite believing him. I packed up my things and headed out, going to find an empty classroom to finish my homework in peace. "Lily, wait," I heard before I closed the door. I stupidly waited and looked out the door again, to see Potter chasing after me.

"What?" I asked. He slipped into the classroom and shut the door, waving his wand and muttering something. That made me suspicious. "What do you want?" I tried again.

"It's just…well, I want your first time to be something you like. From someone who loves you, and something you can look back on fondly."

I was alarmed. "What do you mean?" I was so surprised that I forgot to make my voice sound hostile.

"Just go with it, yeah?" he said. James Potter leaned closer, and I automatically backed up; my legs immediately hit a desk.

"James-" I said, anxious.

"It's alright," he said. His hand caressed my cheek and his warm lips pressed softly against mine. It was… sweet. My face flushed as he pulled back. "And now you have your first kiss. Love you, Lily." And James left so quickly I forgot to hit him.


	4. Chapter 4

*Jessy

"I think I'm dying," I groaned. My lower abdomen felt like it was on fire, and I was fighting the urge to puke.

"You too?" Lily asked from her bed on my left. "It's particularly bad this month…"

"I know," I said loudly with a sigh. "Mine too."

"I wish I was a boy," Alice groaned.

At that moment, Mary came out of the bathroom, clutching her tummy. "Ladies, I got my period." We all made groaning noises.

"Join the club," I told her. She sank into her bed on my other side.

"We staying in bed all day?" Lily asked.

"Yep," was our mutual agreement. Lily summoned towels; we each rolled one up tightly, putting a binding curse on them to stay, then mumbling a spell to make them hot.

"When did we get on the same cycle?" Mary asked.

"It was bound to happen eventually." I moaned as my stomach churned. "We're missing breakfast, anyone object? We could summon an elf, though…"

"I don't think I could eat without it coming right back up," Lily stated. "Just thinking about food makes me feel queasy."

"I want some chocolate," Mary announced.

"Sweets," Alice moaned.

"Okay, let's see…Bitsy!" With a pop, the elf appeared instantly at the food of my bed.

"Yes, miss?" she eagerly squeaked.

"Would you mind terribly bringing us some sweets?" I asked.

"Not at all. Anything else, miss?" Bitsy asked.

"No, that's all. Thank you." She disappeared again with a crack. A few seconds later, a new table appeared in our room. We blinked, and Mary even sat up to see what it held. The answer was a chocolate fountain with strawberries and cherries, lots of chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes, and many, many baked goods: cookies and brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts and pies. It also had assorted chocolate bars from Honeyduke's.

"Why have we not done this before?" I moaned. "I suddenly feel like I could eat…"

Turns out I could, but we paced ourselves, only eating a candy bar. We would save this for a couple hours later… we fell asleep, our tummies aching and heads pounding.

*James

"That's strange, all four of them are still gone," I said as I glanced down the table. My Lilyflower was gone, along with Jessy, Alice, and Mary.

"I wonder where they could be, it's not normal to miss two meals. Especially Lily, missing our double potions." Remus said.

"Well, lucky us, we have the rest of the afternoon off! Double free period, the only good thing about first Tuesdays," Sirius said gleefully. We finished, walking off. I aimed a jinx at Filch's new kitten, Mr. Noah or Ms. Nora or something along those lines, turning her fur blue. Sirius snickered, and sent the same spell at Flich, resulting in a brilliant cobalt colour of hair. We walked from the hall as many students snickered. We all suspected the ugly forty some year old to be a squib; he wouldn't know how to change it back and would need help from one of our teachers.

"So, shall we see what's up with our female half, dear Gryffindors?" Sirius asked dramatically. "Moony, you can ride my broom… accio broom."

I transformed into a stag and charged up the stairs, with Sirius, Peter, and Remus following. Unfortunately, Peter being the slowest… "Eh, a rat!" exclaimed someone from downstairs. It looks like he won't be joining us.

*Jessy

We were all dressed sparsely; we had the heat high in our room and our hot pads pressed against our tummies. I was in a bra and some short shorts, Lily also, with Mary in a spaghetti strap tank top without a bra and her panties and Alice dressed alike. We did some yoga, trying to stretch the soreness from our bodies, and were just deciding who we would ask to go get us four menstrual relief potions from the Hospital wing when the door burst open.

Since we had duplicated our pillows to be so numerous we were practically sitting up, and our curtains were all the way open, we were completely exposed to the three boys, all quite handsome with their sexy hair and mischievous eyes. Lily screamed and ran to the bathroom, shooting a spell at Alice's hangings to close (she'd been asleep), Mary jumped under her covers, and I sat there like a deer in the headlights, the only one who was left to be stared at. "Go away, Potter!" we heard from the bathroom.

"Why were you all gone today?" demanded Sirius.

"And why do you have a dessert buffet in your room?" Remus inquired.

"Why is it so _hot_ in here?" James asked.

"Why do you have double beds?"

"Do you always lie around almost naked?"

"Why weren't we invited to Gryffindor skip day?"

"Shut up!" Lily said, coming out of the bathroom fully clothed. "It's none of your business! You shouldn't even have been able to get up here. Girls, I'm going to get the drink we wanted. I'll be back; it shouldn't take her too long to make." She stormed out of the room.

"Lilykins, wait for me!" bounded James after her. We heard him call after her again, and they were both gone.

"Hey, Remus," Mary said. She emerged, obviously finding a pair of robes under her bed. "Let's go; I want your help with something."

She grabbed his hand and led him out the door, only to hear, "No!" The instant Remus touched the stairs, they turned into a very steep, slick slide and they were off; down the staircase. I wasn't fooled; though it was not commonly said, something about being on our periods made us horny. We all knew it, but refused to say it out loud. Mary was taking Remus somewhere for a snog.

Alice was fast asleep in her bed, having taken a sleeping potion that was supposed to last eight hours; she wasn't even seen.

My thoughts drifted back to us as I heard a throat clear. "Oh, uh, yeah." I said as Sirius got closer to me.

"Well, are you going to explain?" he asked with a smirk, his eyes traveling up and down my body as he sat at the foot of my bed.

"We all have our periods," I blurted, looking at him bluntly.

To my surprise, he didn't even flinch, like he'd heard it all before. "Of course. The hot pads, in underwear, the giant sweet buffet… And how about those double beds? Why don't we get them?"

"Well, in a room made to comfortably fit a dozen people, we had plenty and more room to enlarge our beds. That also means we get space for two wardrobes a piece, and the bathroom now resembles the prefect's, except with four sinks and cabinets."

"That's actually a good idea. You know, us men haven't really ever given much thought to our rooms," he said.

"The only thing is, the colors won't change. We're stuck with our Gryffindor pride, whether we like it or not." My stomach fluttered a little bit at his proximity.

"Oh, I take a little too much pride in Gryffindor. It's just that last piece that pisses off my family." He reached out and brushed a stray hair from my cheek.

"Oh," I practically moaned.

"Er, are you alright?" he asked, seemingly confused, and grinning a bit at the sound. Perv.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my face turn red. "It's just… I've been in this hot room all day, and your cold hands felt ridiculously wonderful. Would you mind terribly if I borrowed them?" I asked before I lost my nerve.

But he just smirked and said, "Of course." He reached out and touched my cheek. I took his other hand and put it on my neck. I took joy in the little shivers his hands gave me.

"Why are you so cold? It's warm in here."

"I'm coldhearted. That's one family trait I can't get rid of." He seemed to be grim.

"Er, okay." I wasn't sure if he was serious.

"You can help yourself to some of the sweets," I said, hoping he wouldn't take one hand away from me.

But, "Okay, sure." He got up and grabbed a small pie, and lay next to me, supporting his head on the giant mound of pillows behind us. I took his hand and placed it on my neck, letting my head fall back and my eyes close. I fell asleep like that, clutching his glacial hand to my neck.

*Sirius

I watched as Jessy fell asleep, her eyes fluttering slightly as she clutched my hand to her collar. I thought about how much I would have loved to get into her bed doing anything more than just this. My heart sank as I remembered what James had said to me one time, when we were just thirteen, bringing our best game and betting each other on how many girls we could snog, "If they undress and redress in front of you, without anything sexual happening, you know you're friend-zoned." I looked at Jessy in her black, lacy bra and short stretchy shorts, and knew she would have been uncomfortable if it were anyone else. To my surprise, it hurt. I had been with lots of girls, though less than is rumored. They were the types of girls I could snog, maybe even shag, depending on their willingness, and leave the next day. Jessy, though, was the one girl who I would be willing to commit to. Even though the feud of James and Lily often got in the way, Jessy was always there. She was our informant, who helped James see into the world of Lily. We had always been, well, brother and sister. I mentally cringed. I didn't like the sound of that.

I took my hand away, and in her sleep she started stirring, almost as if she was going to wake up. I placed it back on the other side, and she promptly fell deeply asleep again. I sighed and stay put. I wouldn't be caught dead doing this for some other girl… But this was my Jessy.

*Lily

"Go away," I practically yelled as I quickly walked to the hospital wing.

"Lily, I thought someone as beautiful as you might want some company," James Potter practically sang. He had no problem keeping up with me. I made a mental note to start running, so I wouldn't be so winded on all these stairs. I quickened my pace again, trying to get away from him.

"No, thank you. I'm fine," I said, just as I tripped on the hem of my robes. Drat, I hadn't worn my shoes, which gave me an extra couple centimeters of height.

James caught me, concern etched in his face. "Lily, are you alright?"

I yanked my arm out of his grip. "Yes, thank you," I said as I set off. I was almost there.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked. I could see the doors from here, just a bit further.

"No."

"Would it help if I said please?" He was nervously ruffling his hair, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Not at all." And suddenly I was against the wall, held by Potter.

"You can't say you don't find me attractive," he said as he bent closer. My heart beat quickened and I almost let him kiss me. Almost…

I shoved hard against his chest and slipped away, running the last few steps into the hospital wing. I patiently waited as the Healer got me some potion; she apparently had more than enough and didn't need to make any. I gave her a grateful smile as I gulped mine down quickly, pocketing the other three vials. I exited the room, and was not prepared for the immediate kiss that I received.

I knew instantly it was James; who else had that wonderful smell? Before I could even shut my eyes I was kissing him back. My hands acted by themselves, twisting themselves in James' unruly hair. My heart beat sped up, and my cheeks flushed slightly. My body loved this. And then my brain caught up with my actions, which I could blame only on my teenage hormones. I shoved hard against James' chest, and we separated. I glared, and slapped his cheek to try and defend myself.

"Lily, wait, let me explain…" he said as I started walking. I turned and hexed him, just a small stinging jinx to his abdomen where it hit him. "You kissed me back!" he exclaimed as I quickly walked away. "You love me, Evans!"

*Mary

I smiled as Remus kissed me. He was like no one I'd ever been with. He was sweet and gentle, passion mixed with kindness. The only thing that bothered me was his lack of commitment. He kept saying I was better off without him, though we had taken our relationship to the extreme. He wouldn't make a commitment. It drove me crazy. But if I got to keep him, just for a few hours, all to myself, then I was happy.


	5. Chapter 5

*Lily

"Up you go," Mary demanded, yanking on my hand.

"I don't want to," I whined. "What's the point?"

"Gryffindor House is going to win, for the sixth year in a row, at the first quidditch game against Slytherin. Don't you want to support our friends? Both Sirius and James are on the team," Alice reminded me.

"But-" I started

"No," Jessy said. She wrapped a scarlet and gold scarf around my neck. "It's nippy out, you'll need this."

I sighed in defeat. They talked about whom on the Slytherin team they most wanted to see fall out of the sky. I was being taken to my first quidditch match in the last two years. We climbed into the stands, getting seats right in the front.

"Remember to duck if something comes at you," Jessy reminded me. I sighed as the players kicked off the ground.

I chatted with my friends as I watched Gryffindor lead Slytherin. Apparently, it was to the point where even if Slytherin caught the snitch, Gryffindor would win. According to Jessy, it was because James had scored so many times with the quaffle. I rolled my eyes. "Of course he's good at quidditch; he's bloody good at everything," I grumbled.

Finally the game was done when Gryffindor's seeker, some fourth year, caught the snitch. I politely clapped, and laughed as I saw the seven players collide into one massive ball of flying scarlet. They slowly reached the ground, and Potter tore his robes off, leaving him with shorts and a bare, sweat-covered chest. I had to stop myself from blushing. Even at this distance, I could see how fit he was; this was the first time I had seen James as a built man, not a scrawny boy. He was wide, and his muscles flexed in the most attractive way. James Potter was no longer the small, skinny boy. He had grown into a man. I finally saw what others saw; he was attractive.

*Jessy

"Thank you all," Sirius said, "for coming to celebrate with us. As we know, this is the sixth year that Gryffindor will win the cup," he continued dramatically. "We've been led by captain James Potter this year, number one on the pitch and in your hearts. Next to me, that is." He paused for some snickering. "Seriously, the person who protects the goal-scorer is more important. I _could_ let him suffer massive brain injury, but I choose to have our team win. Anyways, give it up for your captain, James Potter!" My fellow Gryffindors and I all cheered loudly as James was hoisted on Sirius' and Gideon's shoulders. It was the Prewett twins' last year on the team, and they looked very happy to win. James was now bodysurfing around the common room. Someone broke out the firewhisky and butterbeer.

A half hour later I found myself sitting next to Sirius. "See anyone I could shag?" he asked with a grin.

Looking around, I noticed a pretty fourth year that I never learned the name of. "What about her?" I asked, nodding in her direction. She was talking to a group of boys, probably fourth year.

"Yeah, I think I'd remember if I shagged her before. Thanks, Jessy, you're the best." He squeezed my thigh as he got up, and my heart beat like crazy. Why didn't he look at me like that? Why did I help him get a good shag? It should be me… I quickly walked up to our dorm, fighting tears.

*Lily

"I normally never do this," I explained to Shane. "You know, I'm usually the good student." I knocked back my fourth firewhisky.

"I know." He grinned, and pulled my legs onto his lap. I had long ago abandoned my robes, and I found myself not concerned a bit as his hands ran up my stalking-covered legs. "And as Head Boy, I find myself trying to set an example for younger students. But even I need some fun." I giggled as he drank another shot with me.

"Let's dance," I said, pulling him to the center of the common room, where students had formed a dance floor.

"Sure." And in no time, our dancing turned to grinding which turned to snogging. We stumbled back onto a couch, kissing with passion. I lay down, pulling him by his tie down on me. I let his hands roam, enjoying the feeling of us together.

But… "Oy, Shane, some first year has gone off to tell McGonnagal you've given everyone alcohol!"

And suddenly he was ripped from on top of me, and I was laying on a couch, breathing hard, my cheeks flushed. If I was any less drunk from wizard's firewhisky, I probably would have cared about my skirt, raised so high you could see the top of my stockings and that my blouse, unbuttoned to show ample cleavage, was pulled up to just under my boobs. Essentially, I had the bare minimum covered.

"Lils." James was standing above me, his disapproving glare boring into my eyes.

"What?" I glared.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Who I choose to snog is none of your business."

"I-"

"McGonnagal's here!" someone exclaimed. I bounced off my couch, alarmed, looking around. The stairways were so crowded with people trying to sprint upstairs that it would be impossible to make it up.

"Under here, Lily, quickly." In that moment, I trusted James, and stepped beneath a sheer cloak, right up against him. "Invisibility cloak," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around me. "Don't move far from me, or someone will see our feet."

I placed my head on his chest, leaning into him. I was swaying, so I wrapped my arms around his waist to keep steady. We silently watched as Professor McGonnagal came in, screeching to the unfortunate students who didn't make it up the crowded stairs to their dorm in time. She gave them all detentions, and declared that she was staying in the common room the rest of the night, so no one would continue the party. "Step quietly, and we can make it up to my room," James whispered.

"Are you kidding?" I was drunk, but not that drunk to be taken to a boy's bed.

"Unless you want to get out and face Minnie. You know I can't go up to yours."

"Fine," I murmured. We walked slowly and quietly to the boy's dorm, up two flights before he took the cloak off. "Er… I'd actually like to keep it on, if you don't mind." I didn't want anyone to see me up here.

"Sure." He tossed it over my head, and I continued to follow him until we reached the sixth year door. He opened it and walked in. As soon as I got in there, I noticed Peter, asleep and snoring was the only one in there.

"Where is everyone else?" I whispered as I removed the invisibility cloak. It accounted for so much of their mischief.

James merely shrugged, and the door burst open behind me as Sirius stumbled in, supported by Remus. "He nearly got us caught," Remus said. "He had way too much to drink." James rushed over to help, and they got Sirius into bed. "Hey Lily," Remus said, nodding at me. I flushed, embarrassed.

"Hey Remus."

"Well, I'm beat. Night, Prongs."

"Night, Moony."

"Er," I said as James took off his shirt and pants, right in front of me, and replaced them with pajama pants and a white tee.

"Don't be a stranger, Evans," James said.

"Shut up," came from Remus's hangings. It was about three in the morning, after all.

I hesitantly came forward as James lay down. I whispered a charm, focusing all my willpower on it. The hangings sprung closed, and I knew it had worked. As long as they were shut, the bed would appear normal from the outside, but be huge from the inside. I crawled into Potter's bed (shudder) and he blinked in amazement at the size. "You're brilliant, did you know?" He asked. "You're too drunk to walk straight, yet you can charm a bed to be bigger."

"I know," I said, shutting my eyes. He chuckled.

I woke up the next morning. I sighed, knowing for a fact I had made the bed bigger, though somehow I was cuddling James. I quietly slipped out of his bed and grabbed the invisibility cloak, making my way to my dorm with the world's biggest headache.

*Jessy

"Are these yours?" Sirius asked morning after the party at the breakfast table. I looked up to see him holding a couple of thongs.

"No," I replied, trying not to blush as others stared at us. Lily and Mary sat across from Sirius and I.

"Do these belong to you?" he asked as he held them up for them to see.

Lily glanced up. "Black, put those down," she hissed.

"What?" he asked, almost innocently.

"Yeah, the blue one," Mary replied. Lily rolled her eyes and Sirius grinned as he tossed it at her.

"You sure this one's not yours?" Sirius asked me, wagging his eyebrows.

"Positive," I laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember loosing knickers in your dorm."

"Maybe they're James'," Lily pointed out as he sat next to her, flinging an arm around her shoulders. "Get off me," she said, pushing his arm away.

"What's mine?" he asked as he piled his plate.

"These," Sirius said, holding them up.

James studied them for a bit, pretending to contemplate. Then, "No, I don't think so. You see, I only wear silk boxers. Anything else is beneath me," James said. He stared at Lily. "They couldn't be…"

"No!" she yelled, her face turning slightly red.

"Just asking. Where did you find them, Sirius?"

"Under my bed, along with a pair of Mary's."

Remus sat down at that moment, along with Peter. "Mary's what?" he asked.

"Yeah, about that. Next time the two of you shag, make sure her delicates don't make their way to my bed," Sirius said.

"Sure, sure," Remus said as if he didn't have a care in the world.

*Sirius

I was passionately kissing a petite blonde, a year younger in Hufflepuff, I think. She didn't mind as I let my hands roam her body. I quickly led us to a broom cupboard, locking the door behind me. "Sirius," she whimpered as I let my hand slide up her shirt. But I couldn't stop thinking about Jessy.


	6. Chapter 6

*Lily

"Ah, my bed, I have missed you." Of all my relationships, the one I had with my bed was the best. "So soft, so warm, like a cloud," I cooed. I snuggled my face into my bedding, rubbing the soft sheets against my face.

"If we're interrupting something, we could leave," Mary announced to me as she finished unpacking things she bought from Hogsmeade.

"No, it's okay. We have an open relationship; you can watch," I grinned, too happy for their laughs to embarrass me.

"Ladies, it's a weekend. No Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, or Merlin forbid, Slytherins. Just us, okay? A Saturday night, having fun. Alice and I will go to Hogsmeade, since we're 17, and grab us some drinks. You two are in charge of snacks, and we'll meet here in a half hour." Mary didn't even give us the option of saying no, before she grabbed a few galleons out of her trunk and left.

"But you were just there," we heard Alice complain before the door closed.

"Uh, I suppose we should go to the kitchens," Jessy said, a bit laughingly.

"You know what? I could use this," I decided.

Jessy looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I just got some news." Jessy looked at me for a proper explanation as we climbed out of the portrait hole.

"Go on," she prompted when I didn't say anything more.

"My sister is getting married tonight."

"Oh, honey." Jessy hooked her arm through mine, and gave it a squeeze. She knew about my family issues. "You'll be invited to mine," she offered.

I smiled as if that made up for it. "Thanks, darling, and you mine." It really did hurt when your own blood sister deemed you too much of a 'freak' to go to her wedding, let alone meet her fiancé.

"Besides, an early January wedding? I bet they'll freeze, having it in a dusty old church." I smiled at Jessy's logic, though I myself loved winter. Especially since it would be my birthday soon.

We gathered up snack items: chips, dips, and candies. The house elves bundled everything and put them in two paper sacks for us to carry. We thought we were being sneaky, making it through the castle on a Saturday afternoon and not being seen. And what are we assaulted with as we climbed through the portrait hole?

"Ah, are you ladies having a party?" Sirius asked, jumping in front of us.

"Don't say anything," I warned Jessy. "Let's just keep walking."

She agreed this was best, and we kept our heads straight, and almost made it to the stairway, when our bags split open, and everything fell to the floor. "I knew it!" exclaimed Sirius. "What else would you be doing with all this?"

"Reparo!" I exclaimed. "Accio! Let's go, Jess." We made it up the stairs, to see Alice and Mary, with a pile of butterbeer and several bottles of firewhisky.

"Welcome back," Mary grinned. "Let the party begin!"

oO0Oo

"Why won't Remus just call me his girlfriend?" sobbed Mary.

"I think I have a crush on Sirius," Jessy giggled.

"F-f-frank wants to have lots of kids," slurred Alice. "What if I d-don't want kids?"

I sat back and watched the scene through my unfocused eyes. It got me thinking about my sisters' wedding, and how she didn't want me. Did anyone want me? Sure, I had friends, but they all would move on with their lives and start families. They had a few boyfriends each, and it sounded like Alice was in love. The only one who had ever asked me out was James.

My eyes tear up. It was a cruel joke. Potter asked me out constantly, in the rudest, most obnoxious ways, just to get a laugh out of his mates. I'd immediately learned not to trust him; one minute he would be so sweet and say what every girl wanted to hear, the next he would hex the nearest Slytherin. And the worst part (I let a tear escape my eye) was that he would threaten any boy who even looked at me. According to Jessy, he had staked some sort of claim on me. It was infuriating. He not only made me feel ridiculous, but he made sure every other male in the school was afraid to touch me. My tears continued to fall as I drank more firewhisky.

I didn't pay much attention to anything, letting myself be miserable in my thoughts, until I heard male voices. I sat up; nobody had seen me on the floor between Jessy's bed and my own. It was Sirius, Remus, and…Potter. I noted the absence of Peter; where was he whenever the boys broke into our rooms? Not that I was complaining, he kind of creped me out. I sat against the rock wall, and took another swig out of my bottle. I listened as the girls laughed and squealed, a couple shouts and a whole lot of arguments over if the boys could have any alcohol.

I soon ignored them, and continued my self- pity party. Wouldn't my mother have forced Petunia to invite me? By now the wedding was probably over. I was probably forgotten as the bride and groom's guests left, thought full of the happy stupor that comes with weddings. No one would be asking where the bride's only sister was.

I jumped as a voice full of concern asked, "Are you alright, Lils?"

I looked up, startled to see James Potter standing over of me. "Go away," I muttered. He ignored my comment and sat next to me.

"Really, I've never seen you cry, or drink this much," he said. If I didn't know how good of an actor he was, I would think he was actually worried about me. I didn't say anything, and he took my hand. I looked up, alarmed. "Just tell me what's wrong," he persuaded.

I blame it on my drunk mind, but I poured out my thoughts to him. I sobbed on his shoulder about loosing my sister emotionally, and punched him several times from the anger he caused me. He held my hand throughout, even grabbing it after I finished punching him. "Do you really believe I'm that bad of a person? That I really don't care about you?" he asked.

I laughed bitterly. "If you really liked me, you'd be kind and caring." I remember falling asleep, and hugging him, asking him to stay. I didn't want to be alone, I felt so lost with my sister disowning me. I wanted someone, anyone. Just a beating heart.

"I love you, Lily Evans. Why don't you believe it?" His words seemed distant through my alcohol-induced brain.

"You're too mean to have a heart," I mumbled. "Stop hexing Severus."

"Lils, he called you a…a you-know-what."

"I know, Jamie." My eyes were fluttering closed from the alcohol intake.

"How can I show you?"

"Be my friend, and maybe I'll like you."

oO0Oo

I smelled sweet cologne, and warm hands were wrapped around me. My head was lying on someone's chest, and I could hear their heartbeat and the gentle rise and fall of their breathing. _This is a nice dream_, I thought. It was almost like I actually was with someone. Not opening my eyes, careful to not let the dream end, I reached my hands out and touched their bare chest, running my hands down an impossibly fit abdomen. There was no way I could have had someone like this in real life; my body was too round, with a big butt, slightly asymmetrical boobs, and stomach way too far from flat. I ran my hands along the waistline of their silky boxers, and I heard their heartbeat quicken, a breath catch. Gentle hands caught my wrists, and I felt a kiss on my head.

Then I was suspicious. This was all too real to be a dream…I opened my eyes to a smiling James Potter. "Morning, Lils," he whispered. He seemed… almost _afraid_ of what I would say.

I remembered last night, how he was so kind, and assured me I would always have him. I always believed he was just making fun of me, but he seemed so honest. I sighed quietly, still undecided. "Good morning, James." I lay my head back down on his chest.

I swear I heard the smile when he said, "So, what do friends of Lily Evans do?"

As I opened my mouth to answer, a horrible feeling washed over my stomach and I sprinted across the room, tripping on numerous things, to make it into bathroom and puke in the toilet. James held my hair back as I puked, and I was shaking as I walked to the sink. "Friends of Lily Evans get her hangover tonics," I replied weakly as I applied toothpaste to my toothbrush.

"Here," James said. He handed me one out of his trouser pocket. "I was planning on needing it, but seeing as I didn't get much drinking done last night, it's all yours."

I rinsed my mouth and downed the potion. It started to instantly work. "Thank you, Potter."

"Wouldn't friends call each other by their first names?" he asked.

I was about to make a snarky remark but I held it back. "Of course, James."

*Lily

"Happy birthday, Lily," Shane said as he came closer. My back hit the wall of the broom cupboard and I tilted my face up as he wound his hand in my hair. His lips touched mine, and I responded with enthusiasm. I wrapped my arms around his neck, opening my mouth. I felt a slow warmness in my body, and my mind was as sharp as ever. Why? Why didn't I loose control? I should feel the passion, the electricity, the fire. Not small, barely a single butterfly. Not like when Potter touched me… No. I refused to think about Potter while snogging another man. I tried to focus, but I couldn't help compare the unsure touches of Shane to the confident lips of Potter. And…

"Oy!" someone shouted from the now open doorway of the broom cupboard. I glanced up.

Speak of the devil…"We were busy," I said coolly to Potter.

"I see. And did you know your goody-goody Head Boy has a girlfriend?" He said, glaring at Shane and fingering his wand threateningly.

"That's not true," Shane said. "We aren't together anymore."

"Oh, when did that happen?" Potter said scathingly.

Shane mumbled something.

"Sorry, what?" Potter asked.

"This is so none of your business," I practically screeched. "Go away before I hex you."

"Just let him answer the question, and I'll go."

Shane exhaled loudly, and glared. "Half an hour ago, okay?" I was fed up with this. So what? I didn't actually like Shane. I shoved past Potter, and I heard Shane say, "Wait, Lily," but I didn't listen.

"Hey, Lils." James' deep voice came from behind me, and I stopped suddenly and whipped around.

"Why must you ruin everything for me? Why can't you let someone else even _touch _me? I'm not a China doll! I don't need your protection! Just let me be, for once in my life!" I screamed at him. He tried to wrap his arms around me. "No!" I shouted, punching his hard abdomen. I ran away.

That night I was dragged to Hogsmeade, into a club. I drank enough to talk things through with Potter. He explained that he was only trying to protect me as my friend, and that Shane was going to get back together with his girlfriend and didn't want me to feel used and hurt. I forgave James, and the next morning woke up in his bed, fully clothed and still friends.

Time flew by. I enjoyed the last of winter as the sun stayed out longer, and the snow slowly melted. Green started to sprout everywhere, and it was soon the first day of spring.

"Did you finish the transfiguration essay?" I asked James, the only one in the common room besides Peter, who was snoring next to him on the couch.

"Yeah." He waved his wand to dry the ink and nodded at it.

"Would you mind helping me?" I asked as I sat next to him on the floor, using a couch as a backrest as I sprawled my legs out under the coffee table. We were touching, hip-to-hip and shoulder to shoulder as he talked me through transfiguration, my worst subject yet James' best.

"Now, help with Charms?" he asked a tad pleadingly, pouting his lip a bit.

I just laughed. "Just say it with a bit more accent on the 'a' and you'll be set." I watched him complete a perfect bubblehead charm, allowing him to breathe underwater and to guard him from bad smells, say, a dungbomb.

"You know," he said, "It's my birthday this weekend."

"Oh?" I said nonchalantly.

"Yeah. We're going to throw a party, but apparently I'm not allowed to know," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyways, you wanna come?"

"Sure."

oO0Oo

"Can I just go in on your present?" I begged Mary and Alice.

"No," Mary told me. "What we're getting Potter would be…taken wrong, if your name was on the card.

"What is it?" my interest was immediately heightened to an intense curiosity.

"You'll just have to see," Alice giggled, turning slightly red.

"Or maybe you won't," mused Mary.

"I'm sure she will," Alice stage whispered dramatically as they both burst out laughing.

"Ugh," I grunted. "And what about you?" I asked Jessy.

"I already gave him his yesterday," she said.

"So it would be too late to say it was from me as well?" I asked.

"Unfortunately. Four butterbeers, please." I patiently waited through the barmaiden's chitchat, and Jessy continued, "He'll love anything from you, though. Don't worry."

"What did you get him?" I asked.

"The shirt he'll be wearing to the club tonight," she replied.

"Should I get him clothes?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry, we'll help you," Alice promised.

oO0Oo

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly.

"It's the best thing that'll happen to him all year," Mary said with an eye roll.

"But I really don't want to," I whined.

"Just do it," Jessy said with a laugh.

"It'll be one birthday present he'll never forget," Alice informed me.

oO0Oo

"So we're leaving the castle this year," James said conversationally.

"Genius," Remus said.

"And where are we headed?" he asked.

"None of your business, Prongs," Sirius teased. I watched as these friends, as good as brothers shoved each other around, lightened by the mood of celebration.

"Ah, I see," James said as we walked to the far reaches of Hogsmeade. "The first time I'll set foot in here…without an aging potion." He smirked at the other boys.

"Drink up, Jessy," Sirius said, handing her a vial.

"Aww, did you at least flavor it?" she whined. I laughed along with Mary and Alice at her face as she chugged it, trying not to puke. She handed the vial back to Black after she was done.

"Just like pumpkin juice," she remarked bitterly.

"Let's go!" exclaimed James excitedly.

"Okay, birthday boy, or as I should now say, man," Sirius said. They walked into the club, called NightWitch, and my friends and I skeptically followed. It was in full swing for a Friday night; the small place was packed. We made our way to the bar where Sirius ordered drinks for everyone, claiming he knew what we wanted better than we did.

After a drink had soaked into my system, I willingly went onto the dance floor with Mary, Jessy, and Alice. The songs playing were fast, and we had fun. Jessy had found a wizard who must have been in his twenties, and could have been awarded Witch Weekly's most charming smile award. Soon they were grinding away, leaving us looking for someone. Mary danced over to Remus, and Alice decided to sit next to Peter, saying, "I don't think Frank would like it much if I was dancing with another man."

I followed her, no way being the loner when everyone else seemed to have dance partners. But before I made it to the table shoved in the corner, a hand caught my elbow. I turned around to see a handsome wizard. His head was the same height as mine, and he was a bit on the scrawny side. "Hello," I said.

"Hey." He sounded pretty confident. "Would you like to dance with me?"

I glanced around before answering, "Sure." He grabbed my hand, in what I thought was a very James-like manner and led me to the mass of bodies moving to the music.

I started swaying my hips, just going with the flow. Eventually the guy's hands reached out and grabbed my waist. Before I could even react, I was no longer there. Stronger hands had me from behind and yanked me backwards. Unfortunately, I knew that touch, a little too well. "Potter…"

"It's my birthday, Evans," he said in my ear from behind me. "Humor me, this once." The guy was glaring over my shoulder at James, and I shrugged at him.

I turned around. "Just this once," I agreed. I would be in the perfect situation to give him my 'present'.

James' hands were on me as we moved onto the dance floor; the several, mostly robe clad bodies moved like crazed animals on a full moon. "Happy birthday," I said in his ear.

He grinned. "Thanks," he said. "So, what did you get me?" he asked. I again compared him to a toddler in my head.

"Well, just…" I couldn't explain. I just gave it to him. I stood on my toes and yanked a handful of robes down towards me. I smashed my lips against his. He stopped moving altogether, standing under the pulsing lights. It was my present; I took control. My tongue wormed its way into his willing mouth, and I kissed him as best as I knew how. When I ran out of air, I pulled away. "Happy birthday," I said with a laugh.

James, still dazed, grinned so wide I wondered if he would ever frown again. "Thanks, Lils."

My memory got increasingly foggy as Sirius delivered drinks like St. Nick on Christmas, insisting we all chug. I remember dancing embarrassingly badly, sticking with James for the night as the songs changed and a live band moved in.

When I woke up, I was relieved to see the view of my window. My head hurt, but I had prepared; a hangover tonic was on my nightstand. I reached out and guzzled it down, grateful of the immediate effects. I stretched, not minding one bit that I was only half-dressed. I rolled over, and nearly had a heart attack at the sight of a sleeping James Potter. How? _How? _ How did he get up here? Every time it happened, I wanted to know. And apparently I was too drunk to remember.

At least I wasn't cuddling him. That was a good sign. But…I turned my body to how I had woken up. So, not cuddling, but spooning. I sighed out loud, and he shifted in his sleep. The sheets fell, and I could see his glorious abdomen. I wasn't as bothered as I should be by the sight. I looked into the bottom of the vial that held my hangover tonic. Focusing, I multiplied the last drip so there was another serving. I reached out and shoved Potter's shoulder; He groaned. "Take this," I said as I placed the vial in his hand.

"Thanks," he said after it was swallowed.

I shook my head. "How is it that I keep ending up in bed with you?"


	7. Chapter 7

*Jessy

"It's just so weird!" I exclaimed as I watched Lily talk amenably to James, a little down the dinner table where there had been room. James snorted and almost sprayed his drink, which only made them laugh harder.

"And they say they're only friends," Sirius grumbled.

"Hey, now, they had the same doubts about us," I told him. Of course, I wanted more, but I didn't think anyone knew that…

"Let's see how this relationship lasts over the summer. I'm sure they'll be seeing each other in a more relaxed environment, which should prove interesting," Alice said, gazing at them as if they were an interesting experiment.

"Should we?" Mary asked.

"I think so," I said.

"Definitely. It's now or never, ladies." Alice looked around at us with a wide grin, which we returned.

"Okay, I'll bite," Remus said with a sigh. "What are you talking about?"

"It all started in fifth year," I began.

"Lily was upset about not having a boyfriend when we all had one," Alice explained.

"So we came up with a plan to get her to like James," Mary continued.

"It's a series of small prods in his direction, subtle hints that will get her conscience mind to lighten up on him." I grinned. "And if all goes according to plan, she won't even know what we're doing."

*Lily

_Dear Lily,_

_ Party at my house, yeah? It's a sleepover. My parents are out of town, so I've got the place to myself for the weekend. As long as we don't trash the place, I'm allowed to have someone over to keep me company. I know it's only been two days, but I miss you like crazy! The others should be there too… Owl me back to say yes!_

_ Love, Mary_

_ Dear Mary,_

_ Of course, I'll come! Anything to get away from this place. Petunia hasn't moved out yet (cringe) because they're buying their house new, and it can't be moved into until they finish building the whole street of houses. _

_ Who is 'the others'? Alice and Jessy, right? But, how about the Marauders? Your Ravenclaw cousins?_

_ Let me know._

_ Yours, Lily_

_ Lily, you'll just have to come to find out! It's a casual formalwear party, okay? Can't wait to see you in a couple hours!_

_ -Mary_

I sighed. Casual formalwear? What did that even mean? I was almost positive she made that up. I scoured my closet for something to wear, but all I had was a little black dress. I decided that was better than nothing, and in my overnight bag I packed an extra outfit, in case I got there and everyone was more casual than formal.

I smiled, wondering if the Marauders would, in fact, be there. James had been so nice, and even stopped hexing Slytherins, for the most part. I suppose he did it more often when I wasn't around, though. I put on a small silver necklace that he had given me for my seventeenth birthday. I secretly suspected it cost a lot. Sirius had let on a few times that James' parents were aurors, and had a big family fortune that had been passed on for generations. Since James was an only child, the miracle child, born to parents who were too old to have children, he was the sole heir to a fortune. No matter; I loved the necklace, and appreciated the chance to wear it with something so that it was seen.

I quickly did my makeup and hair, grabbed my bag and yelled to my mum as I walked out the door. I turned, and felt the familiar tugging sensation behind my navel, and when I opened my eyes I was standing at the front gate of Mary's house. I barley took a step to balance myself when I heard, "Lily's here!"

I looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. There they were, four boys and three girls on broomsticks, swooping around. I blinked, and shielded my eyes from the setting sun. Alice, Jessy and Mary were all wearing dresses, and sitting sideways on their brooms, leisurely floating. James and Sirius were flying like madmen around each other, doing impressive flips and twists while Remus and Peter were playing catch with a quaffle.

The girls came down, and we all went inside, talking about families. We had tea, and eventually the Marauders came inside, sweaty and, in Peter's case, slightly sunburnt. Eventually we got the 'party' going. It was more like the days when we invaded the boy's dorms; lounging around, sipping alcohol, and just talking.

I still wasn't big on drinking, so when everyone else started taking several shots in a row, I sat back and watched them with amusement as their brains started shutting down and they said the first things that came to their mind. Soon enough, it was two in the morning, and I decided I'd leave before the vomiting started to happen. I was only slightly tipsy; I made my way upstairs, where I was told that there were rooms enough for six of us to share and one person to get their own. I planned on being that person; I was ready for a summer of falling asleep on my terms and not when others shushed me. Unless Mary stayed with Remus… or maybe Remus could stay with her? Those were better odds for me getting a room of my own if he found her room, another landing up.

I noted, once again, the size of Mary's house. It was modest compared to their salaries, yet richly and comfortably furnished. I walked down the hall, furthest from the stairs on the third floor, where my suite would be. I always stayed here; this was the floor that held four guest suites. I walked to my regular room and breathed in the clean scent of linans as I noticed my small bag in the corner. I smiled; Mary's house elf Wrinkle was so nice. Of course she would know which room to place my bag in. I noted with a smile that there wasn't any other bag in my room.

I walked unevenly over to my bag, trying not to let my buzzed mind upset my balance. After a few gravity checks, I unzipped my bag and dug around to find my old sweats. I mentally cursed; I'd forgotten those. I decided my bra and underwear would have to do. I usually wore just that, but it would be weird if someone walked in on me and I was sleeping practically naked. I reached back and unzipped my dress, just as my bathroom door opened. I let out a breathless squeal as a poor way of stopping myself from screaming.

There stood James Potter. I relaxed, slightly fearing that it was a Death Eater. But as a result of my shoulders relaxing, my dress decided to slip. I blushed as I caught it, looking at James again. I took in his wet appearance, dressed in only a towel around the waist. His abdomen muscles made my blush deepen. As I looked, I noted the body I'd seen on the quidditch pitch, from afar countless times. I'd come to terms with the teenage, scrawny boy Potter, but he was now a man, with the sexy body to go with it, and I had to fight with myself. I mentally shunned my eyes from looking at the line of hair from his belly button and down… "Lily, why are you in my room?" he asked with a laugh. "Though, I must say, I like your greeting," he said with a wink and another look at my cleavage. "Let's just save you the trouble and let you stay here with me tonight, just the two of us… I love your necklace by the way."

"Potter, this is my room," I argued, ignoring his comments. "I stay here every time." I overlooked his taunt, because it might have led to something. I blamed it on my alcohol consumption and teenage hormones mixed, but I felt something in the pit of my stomach, a fluttering…

"But I was here first," he argued back with a smile.

"And I'm here now," I said, as if that were a plausible argument. Before he could respond, I thought of something. James was wide, muscular, and tall… "Did you bring an extra shirt?" I asked.

"Er, yeah, why?" He looked a bit confused and smiled at me. He was probably perfectly comfortable in his short towel, while I was pressing my flabby arms against my sides in the most unflattering way in order to keep my dress up.

"I, uh, forgot my pajamas," I said. Why did my eyes keep traveling to his naked chest? I forced myself to look into his eyes.

"Oh, sure." He waved his wand, and a duffle bag appeared with 'Potter' embroidered on the side. He snatched it out of the air and walked over to the bed. James opened it and dug around, and in a flash he tossed a bright scarlet shirt to me.

"Thanks," I said. I walked into the bathroom, and dropped my dress. I quickly slipped the shirt on and was immediately bombarded with the smell. It was fresh, lovely, and completely _James_. I looked at myself; it was a Gryffindor Quidditch jersey, with the name Potter on the back, along with the number four. For some reason I felt cheerful to wear it. It went halfway down my thighs: Perfect. Throwing my hair into a ponytail, I walked back out into the bedroom, to see James lounging on _my_ bed, wearing nothing but a pair of drawstring pajama pants. "Potter, I told you this is my room." I was proud; I only stumbled once on my way to the door. I pulled it open. "Out you go," I giggled. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"But Lils," he whined. "I'm so comfortable!"

"Let's just find a empty room, and I'll see who's in it. If it's a boy, you get to move, and a girl, I'll move," I explained, almost childishly.

"You're on," He said. We walked down the hall, and I opened the first door only to see Mary and Remus passionately kissing in a bed. I wrinkled my nose; neither of them even noticed me. I shut the door and walked down the hall, to see James shake his head. "Sirius and Jessy," he whispered. "They're both passed out, and their room stinks of firewhisky."

"Mary and Remus were doing the nasty in there," I informed him.

"Which must mean," he contemplated. He opened the last door, to reveal Alice sleeping on the king-sized bed; Peter could be heard puking in the bathroom. "Alice and Peter."

I sighed. "Looks like we're bunking together," I said as he shut the door and we started walking, a bit unsteadily, to my room. I tripped over the corner of a rug, which was now covering the hardwood floor, and fell.

"Let's get you to sleep," James said as he helped me up. He was obviously trying not to laugh.

"Carry me," I whined. I honestly didn't think he would, but he grabbed behind my knees and scooped me up, without breaking his stride. "You're warm," I giggled. Looking back, I think I was more drunk than I'd like to admit.

"Oh, Lilyflower, what will we do with you?" he asked. I pressed my face to his muscular shoulder.

I figured it was more of a rhetorical question as I felt myself fall asleep against his warm skin to the rhythm of his stride. "Night, Jamie."

*Jessy

"I win," I announced to Sirius. He had finally puked from drinking too much.

"Not fair," he said as he panted. I took out my wand and cleaned up his mess on the floor.

"I… er… bathroom!" I shouted. I sprinted up the stairs, to the room that was usually mine when I stayed. I made it to the toilet before emptying my insides. My throat burned, and I was shaking too much to stand. I finally flung myself on the countertop and brushed my teeth, only to be joined by a stumbling Sirius. He brushed his teeth out, and we helped each other stumble back too the enormous bed. I gratefully sunk into the soft mattress, and without thinking about it leaned on Sirius' shoulder.

"Goodnight," he whispered. I looked up, and blushed at his smoldering eyes.

"'Night, Black," I said. Without meaning to, I pecked him on the lips. I pulled back and blanched. "Er, yeah. Sorry," was all I could say.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"I shouldn't have done that." I was looking into his eyes, staring with as much passion as him.

"No, you shouldn't have," Sirius said solemnly. He then grabbed my head, and started snogging me like I'd never been snogged before. I responded enthusiastically. I ran my hands through his hair, and felt like I was in a daze. Was this really happening? We separated, breathing slightly labored. I pressed my lips on his again, and I opened my mouth to his tongue, which was begging for entry. Eventually we separated.

I leaned my head against his shoulder once again, and we fell asleep like that. What was probably the best experience of my life was one I wouldn't remember through my drunken mind. But Sirius and I kissed.

*Lily

I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping outside my window. I glared into the sunlight. Groping around, I found my wand and shot a spell to close the curtains. But not before, "Ah, you're up. It's about time, I'm hungry and don't know if I'm allowed to the kitchen."

"What time is it?" I mumbled. Last night's memory of sleeping in the same bed as James came back to me.

"Seven thirty," James cheerfully told me.

"I'm up at seven thirty?" I couldn't believe it. Why was he so cheerful this early?

"Of course. Now, are you going to feed your starving friend?"

I stretched, and I heard an intake of breath as I kicked the sheet off me. "What?" I asked defensively. But then I knew, because of where James was staring. The shirt I was wearing, James Potter's shirt, had ridden up to my waist. And my underwear choice for last night was a thong. He was getting a perfect view of my butt. I didn't even bother to cover up. He had seen my thong before, when we were in the lake. "Did you bother to check if anyone else is up?" I asked as I turned to face him. His face looked like he'd been smacked over the head. I suddenly got the same feeling as last night, a feeling that made me want to run my hands through his impossibly sexy hair. Stop, I told myself. That's the second time you'd described James Potter as sexy in less than six hours. James was an arrogant git, who I'd always detested… I had to pry my gaze away from his mischievous eyes as he shook his head.

"Let's go get breakfast, shall we?" I hopped up and headed to the bathroom. I waved my wand and my hair brushed itself, and my makeup reapplied. I left the room, James following me, and led him to the kitchen. Not wanting to bother the house elf, I cracked a few eggs and started frying them, adding a little pepper. I found some sausages, which I threw on another pan. I made toast, and cut up fruit. After it was all done, I did an advanced spell to multiply the food so that we had enough for at least a dozen people. Though, knowing how James ate… "What?" I asked again, as I found him staring.

"Oh, just, you know," He cleared his throat. "Lily Evans, in my shirt, making breakfast for me. I'd always wanted this to be my future, but I thought I'd marry you before it came true." I rolled my eyes. He _would_ think about it. And, to be honest, it kind of flattered me, how he blatantly stated he wanted to marry me. Of course, I knew he had to be joking…right?

"Dig in," I told him, tossing a plate in his direction. With his quidditch skill, he caught it easily and rushed to the stove, where he crammed his plate full to the brim. "Are you going home this morning, or staying all day?" I asked.

"I have to go home in a couple hours," He told me. For some reason, I felt a bit upset. "But, I'm free tomorrow," he hinted with a wink.

"Good, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to spend with your new brother," I said distractedly.

"I suppose," was his only answer. We talked meaninglessly for a bit, and eventually, one by one, our friends made it down the stairs, drawn from the smell of the food.

"You could have told me you were spending all day with your friends," my mum said.

"Sorry," I said as I made my way upstairs, lugging several bags. I bought a bunch of clothes, enough to last the summer before they went out of style.

"Come back downstairs and help me with dinner!" she called.


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Petunia went out with Vernon, and my parents had their first full chat with me. My mum got right down to business. Why didn't I have a boyfriend? Why didn't I bring any of my friends here? If you're an adult, why do you have another year of school? It was common for a witch and wizard to get married right out of school, and she wanted a grandchild.

I sat silently through her criticism, how I needed to eat less and exercise more, and how I was supposed to be responsible since I would have the house to myself this summer. I wasn't to bother Petunia, because it would cause an argument and create, if possible, an even bigger rift between the two of us. I silently helped my mum with the dishes before kissing her cheek good night at the time of nine o'clock. I once again donned Potter's old practice jersey, though I didn't have a good reason why. I told myself it was because of the smell. It comforted me.

_I swear it gets worse every year,_ I wrote to Mary. _She constantly treats me like I'm still her little eleven year old daughter. What's worse is that I think Petunia's finally gotten to her; she thinks I'm weird. Every time I do a spell or something magical has obviously happened, she give me this… almost _sad_ look, like she's sorry. I can't bear it, and it's only been five days at home. Thank Merlin they're all workaholics, always in the office, because any more than a couple hours of interaction and I would go insane. I need a Godsend. I can't believe you won't be home for a month! Between you, Jessy's parent issues, and Alice's job, I never see anyone. Your letters keep me sane between my family and hours of solitude. I don't even know what to do around here, and I'm too chicken to do things alone anyways. Keep writing, at least twenty times a day, yes? _

_Lily_

I sighed in relief when the door closed for the third time the next morning, and I heard the last car back out of our driveway. Jumping into the shower, I pondered about my mum. I doubt she even knew she was doing it, and would get offended if I mentioned her attitude to her. Dad was just passive, a more quiet man. Petunia was the dynamic character in this family, and when I got home I usually just sat in the background and watched as the Evans' household revolved around her.

Stepping out of the shower, I magically removed my leg hair and dried myself. I donned a new outfit and did my makeup. It was more for myself than anything; no one outside of this house would be seeing me. I always looked better in the summer than any day at Hogwarts, that was a given.

I made myself breakfast and sat on the couch, watching television. Like every summer, I was baffled by the stupidity of the new muggle shows. I glanced at my watch; Mary should be getting her letter by now. I hoped she would write a long reply about how her vacation was going. She could just drop a letter in a floo-powdered fireplace to the others, but to me it would have to be a while until my owl got back. Stupid muggle fireplaces.

I put in a movie, the first one I found on the floor, and watched it. My thoughts drifted too often for me to follow the plot line. I fell asleep.

My eyes popped open. I swear I heard something. I sat up, and noted that the movie credits were rolling. I got up, and I heard a knock on the door, a little louder than one would their first time. I hastened towards the door, about to apologize for being asleep. It swung open to reveal the face of James Potter. I was slightly put off. Of course, he did his best to be nice, and I equally played my part as a friend, but I still didn't like him all that much. I always thought we had too much bad history to be friends. And then I was excited. I smiled as he nervously ruffled his hair, one hand in his pocket. Company was company, and I'd take Potter over Petunia any day, with this attempted 'friendship'.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi, Lily.

"Come in," I invited. "So, what are you doing here?" I asked as we sat down across from each other, each on our respective armchairs.

"Well, my parents went on a mission, Sirius is spending the day with his cousin, and I missed you," he said, running a hand through his hair. I wouldn't be told for a couple years later, but Mary wrote James and told him to come.

"So Sirius really did run away last year?" I asked.

"Yeah, he did. And he's a better man for it; he literally got tortured. But, ah, don't tell anyone else I mentioned that part, he doesn't want to be known as the poor tormented soul he really is."

And just like that we talked. James talked about his hopes of being an Auror, like his parents were. I agreed that it would make a noble career. We discussed the rising of Voldemort, and who had followed in his tracks. We gossiped about Mary and Remus, and how we thought Jessy and Sirius were perfect for each other. "And the worst part about it," James laughed, "Is that she helps him pick up girls."

I giggled. "I know, its horrible! And she just won't admit she likes him."

"And he always denies it, but walks away from the conversation with a little smile on his face he just can't hide."

"Maybe we should try and get them together this year," I suggested.

"I'm not sure if they'll go for it; they're two very stubborn people."

"That's definitely true."

"Do you like swimming?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Want to go? I haven't been yet, and we're a week into the holiday."

"Where would we go?" I asked.

"I've got the perfect spot. Trust me, you'll love it."

Twenty minutes later, I had my new bikini on under a sundress. I had my doubts about my body, being my stomach wasn't near flat, but I decided James could deal. I walked into the living room, where he was standing by the door. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." And before I could do anything, he hugged me, reaching his arms around my waist. He spun me around, and I felt queasy as my feet uneasily hit the ground.

"You okay?" he asked as he steadied me.

"Yep," I said with a little pop on the p. He chuckled. I looked around. We were in the middle of a wooded area, and there were beautiful black rocks around a curvy pool. There was a stack of rocks that made for a little jumping spot, and I could tell by darkness that it was deeper on that end. "This is beautiful," I told him. I walked away from his arms to the edge of the pool. "Is that sand on the bottom?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said as he shrugged out of his shirt. I told myself not to look at his perfect chest muscles.

I kicked off my sandals and tugged off my dress. I walked to the edge of the pool, delicately placing my toe in the water to check the temperature. It was perfect. I turned my head just in time to see James' hands, shoving me into the water.

I hit the water with a splash. I resurfaced spluttering, turning to see a grinning James Potter still on the side. "Potter!" I yelled.

"Yes, Lily dear?" He was fighting the urge to laugh.

I decided to play dirty. I knew it would rip him apart inside, but at the moment I didn't care. He just stood there with an arrogant smirk on his face, knowing he had the power at that moment. "You didn't even give me time to put on sunscreen," I fake-grumbled. I climbed out and grabbed my wand, waving it to dry myself. I had a plan; what James wanted most was what he couldn't get. And that, at this moment, was me, my body.

"You need to teach me that spell," he told me. "We didn't get it in class yet, did we?"

"No, James. We did. I took the home ec. class, where you took a free period." I waved my wand again, and sunscreen appeared before me.

"That would do it," he said.

I sat down and started slowly rubbing my legs with it until you couldn't see the white anymore. I then started on my arms, and a bit on my face. I really did need it; my traditional redhead complexion sucked. When I finished most places, I stood up. "Would you mind rubbing this in on my back?" I asked sweetly.

"Sure." He almost jumped at the opportunity. I felt tentative hands rubbing my back, with the cool lotion making its way into my pours. He lingered, using as much time as he could to rub me.

"Make sure you get under the straps," I said. I felt his hands immediately slide under them.

"You forgot your stomach, did you know that?" his voice was a bit deeper than it was before.

"Did I? I must have forgotten…" I trailed off as I felt his hands snake to my not-so-flat abdomen, rubbing sunscreen on me. He stayed behind me, so it was almost like he was hugging me. For some reason my heart beat a little faster, and I felt the need to blush. I let him finish, and turned around. "Thanks, James," I said brightly as if nothing happened but us sharing a conversation about quidditch. His eyes were slightly clouded over in lust, and I almost laughed as he shook his head slightly.

I grinned and stepped closer. "Your welcome," he told me with a beam and a ruffle through his messy black hair. He eyed me, as I was now close enough to hug him. I reached my arms out…and shoved him into the water.

I laughed as he blinked at me through his shaggy black hair, now plastered to his forehead and neck. His glasses must have been impossible to see out of. I jumped in and laughed as my splash landed in his face, just after he finished spluttering the water for the first time, he got another mouthful. We swam around, splashing each other and racing to see who was faster at swimming.

"Can I try the diving rock?" I asked.

"Of course."

We then had a contest to see who could do the most impressive jumps. I could do many things, and Potter was very impressed; I had been forced to do gymnastics as a child, and up until last summer when I stopped showing up. But I could still do lots of tricks, and I made a show of them. I never showed my skills off to people, but this once it was fun.

After what seemed like no time, my wand started sparking. "Oh, I have to get back," I told him. I did one final jump and pulled myself out of the pool. I gave my wand a sharp jab, and it stopped shooting sparks. With another wave I was dry, and I slipped into my summer dress. James got out of the pool and stood by me, and I absently waved my wand at him to dry him off. "My mum's coming home soon, and I have to clean."

"Okay. Did you want any help?"

"No, but thanks so much for keeping me company today. I really appreciated it. Bye, James." I turned, and was yanked by my arm as I flashed into the world of nothingness. I landed on my arse on the floor of my room, with James looking down at me and laughing. "What was that for?" I asked accusingly. My stomach was unsettled as I took deep breaths.

"I wanted to help you," he said with a shrug and a small smile.

"You could've splinched!" I nearly shrieked.

"It was a small risk; I trusted you." I shook my head. Trusted me? I didn't even know he was coming.

"All I'm going to do is wave my wand and do my chores the easy way." I felt a little uncomfortable; he was now looking around with interest at my room. I spotted a bra hanging off my desk chair, and I sighed as I noticed James looking at it. I didn't do anything. Embarrassingly enough, he had seen me, and my knickers, enough times that it would have been pointless to hide them.

"Well, then I'll keep you company some more." He held out his hand and practically lifted me up; he was strong.

"Fine, but you have to leave before my family get home."

"Deal."

I walked downstairs, and with a wave and sharp jab of my wand the dishes started to wash themselves, the broom and dustpan swiftly swept the kitchen tile. I walked outside and, carefully checking that none of the neighbors were around, I made the laundry fly off the line and fold itself while flying to their separate places around the house.

"That was impressive," James said, slightly awed. "How did you get that last spell to do so many things?"

"I got an O in my home ec. class," I said proudly as we walked inside. "I also did some extra reading on the side, and cleaned our dorm so the elves didn't have to."

"You're brilliant," he said. My heart beat sped slightly up as I gazed into his adoring eyes.

_No,_ I told myself. _You're not going to fall for James Potter after all these years of denying him. You're still half convinced it's a prank._

I cleared my throat. "I know," I said, to hide my feelings.

"So what else?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. Being a muggle, the dishes, sweeping, and laundry would take a long time."

"If I didn't have a house elf, I'd definitely want you at my house." He stepped closer, and ran his hand down my arm. "In my room," he whispered. "All to myself."

I couldn't stop my face from flushing. "Potter, knock it off!" I exclaimed. I slid away from his hands, yet I myself mourned the absence of his skin. Why the bloody hell was that?

"Oh, Lily darling, just admit you love me and we'll be good."

"Potter," I warned. I didn't know where this was coming from, but he hadn't done much along the lines of flirting since the beginning of our attempted friendship.

He followed me, and I sat on the couch, letting him occupy the space next to me. Like right next to me. I was about to say something, when suddenly, "Am I interrupting something?" A sarcastic Petunia asked.

I jumped. Usually I was good at hearing cars in the driveway. Speaking of which, another was coming. Car doors… uh oh. I had to act fast. "Oh, no. James was just leaving," I informed her. I stood up, and Potter followed my example.

Petunia snorted. "Whatever, freak." And just as I was going to tell Potter to go, I heard Petunia telling someone from the hallway that we had a visitor. I groaned. "This is what I wanted to avoid," I told James.

"Lily, do we have a guest?" My mom walked in and grinned widely as she saw Potter.

"Sorry, mum, he was just leaving."

"Oh, Lily, come here a moment before he goes." I got up and walked into the kitchen with my mum. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?" she asked excitedly as Petunia entered the kitchen and started raiding the refrigerator.

"Mum—" I was about to tell her the truth, but Petunia interrupted me.

"Boyfriend? Please, mum, someone that hot wouldn't go for Lily in a million years."

My cheeks flushed in anger at that statement. Before I knew it, "Yeah, he's my boyfriend. I didn't tell you earlier because I wanted you to meet him first."

Petunia's eyes widened, and my mum giggled girlishly. "He'll be staying for dinner, of course. I'll get started right away. Go tell him I'll say hi after I've started the food." My mum said as she waved me away. But before I could exit the kitchen, Petunia pulled me aside.

"You're lying. I'll believe it when I see it," she said nastily. Her long, too pale face had a slight pink that was its poor attempt at an angry flush.

I glared, and marched through the doorway straight to a slightly guilty-looking James. I straddled his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Lils-" he breathed.

"Please go with it," I whispered into his ear. I then leaned forward and crashed my lips against his. He immediately responded, shoving his tongue between my lips as I opened my mouth. I mentally sighed in relief at the same time that I shouted for joy. His hands ran up and down my back, around my waist and through my hair. I let my fingernails play with the back of his neck, raising goosebumps with my little harmless scratches. My cheeks flushed, and everywhere he touched I swore his hands emitted an electric current. I heard a little 'hmph' from the other side of the room as a door closed. I pulled back. "Er, sorry." My breathing had gone ragged and I couldn't help but smile.

Potter was grinning as he ran a hand through his hair, the other still on my back. "No apology necessary, I quite enjoyed the experience. Though may I ask why?"

My heart was still fluttering as I explained in a rush, "My mum thinks we're dating, and because I wanted to prove a point I said we were. Petunia didn't believe me so I had to convince her some way or another. You're staying for dinner," I said.

"Well, convince all you need," he said, his hand rubbing along the hem of my shirt. "I'm here for you, love." He looked up with a smile as my mom walked into the room, gushing about how nice it is to be meeting him. I hastily shifted, landing on the couch next to him with a plop. His arm wound around my shoulders; he would be good at the boyfriend role.

I hadn't ever had a more entertaining dinner. James flattered my mum. He told her everything she wanted to hear, telling her about fake dates we supposedly went on. He made us seem like the perfect couple. He talked to my dad a lot, explaining he was the Gryffindor team's captain and star chaser. James described in more detail quidditch to my dad than I was even capable of understanding from witnessing games. He even complemented Petunia on her ring and gave congratulations on her recent marriage.

And then everything went wrong. The power flickered out, and we looked outside to see a horrible storm raging in the distance. Soon lighting flashed and thunder shook the house. We listened to a small portable radio that said the storms were likely to continue all night and to be aware of lighting-fueled fires; there had already been two. It was late, and I had helped my mum with the dishes. Yet Potter was still here. Time to drop the hints.

"Well, I must be going," James said with several prods from me. "Your cooking was amazing, Mrs. Evans. Thank you."

"Oh, but you can't be leaving in this weather," she protested. "What kind of hostess would I be if I let you go? No, you'll stay the night here."

I blinked, unbelieving. "And sleep where?" I asked. Our old guest room had been transformed into an office when dad got promoted a few years back.

"With you, of course," My mum said unashamedly.

"What?" My face turned bright red as James wagged his eyebrows at me behind her back. Git.

"Oh, it's not like you two haven't slept together before. You're teenagers. For heaven's sakes, I used to be your age, Lily. And don't forget when I walked in the room, after you first told me about him, you were sitting on top of him without a care in the world. I know what that means. Now, it's late, I'm going to bed. See you two in the morning!" I couldn't believe it; my mum had finally lost it. It made me wonder how obvious Petunia had been when she was dating her husband. I looked to see my dad walking out of the room, a firm frown on his face. He was almost certainly going to ask my mum what she was thinking. I knew he wouldn't win, though. Not against my mum.

Once the door closed, James started chuckling. "Shall we go defile your childhood bedroom, my dear girlfriend?" he asked.

I rounded on him. "You couldn't have explained that you were apparating?" I screeched.

"Now, don't be angry, Lily. It's only one night; who cares about what your parents think. They're obviously fine with their baby girl having sex with me. They _like_ me." He got up and stood in front of me. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed, shall we?" His smirk was so smug, I wanted to jinx it off his face.

I rolled my eyes. "You just want to sleep with me," I said accusingly.

"Guilty," he offered. He stretched, yawning, reaching out for me with an arm.

"Come along," I sighed, jumping out of his reach. I led him to my room.

I blanched; I actually only owned one real pajama item, which happened to be a small, silky, spaghetti strap nightgown. I usually just slept in my underwear, which was commonly done in my dorm at school. "Did you bring anything to wear?" I asked.

"Nah, I'll just go with boxers," he stated. I sighed. Of course. I rummaged around, trying to find my sole nightie. I finally found it. I forcing him to turn around I stripped, and shimmied it on. I then removed my bra, and flipped off the light to my room. I noted him staring. We both knew he'd seen me too many times for my liking in just a bra and underwear. This was less revealing, though somehow I felt more uncomfortable. The pajamas had been a present from my aunt; she said they were her favorite type. I guess you could describe the light blue thing as 'sexy.' I chose a side and lay down, facing away from James.

I'd never really thought about it, but my bed was a full size, not queen. When I was little, sleeping with my friends didn't really matter that much because we were both small. But I was sleeping with a young man over six feet tall, wide and muscular, who violated personal space. I shook my head as he lay down on my bed, taking up two thirds of it. I could hear the grin in his voice as he said, "You know, when your mom said that we'd slept together, this wasn't exactly the type of sleeping she had in mind."

I sighed and rolled over to look at him. I was surprised at how close his face was. "And you sleeping with me now isn't exactly how I planned my night to be. And this _is_ the type of sleeping we do together."

Lightning flashed, and my window rattled against the wind. I involuntarily jumped. I'd hoped to keep this bit a secret from James; a Gryffindor, afraid of lightning storms. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah," I said. As a young girl I'd witnessed football player get struck by lightning at a match; ever since I'd hated storms and also been afraid of them.

Wordlessly, James wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his bare chest. I got goosebumps at the contact. I felt his hot breath on my shoulder, and I involuntary shivered. "It's okay to be afraid of something," he said kindly. I didn't want to tell him that the shiver was from his touch, though.

I stared through the dark, into his eyes, which I could see every time the lightning flashed. They were deep, emotional, always how you could tell his mood. His eyes were mutations of colours: A light brown, some dark green, lots of dark blue which combined gave a glowing golden effect in the light. I blinked. I could hardly see his eyes right now. I was going off on memory.

His warm chest against my face combined with the soothing strokes of his fingers down my back soon sent me off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up feeling relaxed. I was very warm yet still comfortable. I went to stretch my legs out, to find that I was blocked by something. My eyes snapped open. I was spooning with James Potter. I quickly rolled away, pushing his arm off from around my waist. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, yet odd because of the lack of glasses.

His eyes fluttered open, and I blushed because I was caught staring. "Good morning," he said. If I had less control, I would have dropped my panties right then and there. Potter's gruff, sleep-filled voice was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard. It made my heart go wild and my abdomen tingle.

"Morning," I whispered. He smiled, and closed his eyes again. I got up and grabbed some clothes. I went to the bathroom and took a shower. When I was dressed and ready, I walked into my room to find it empty. There was a note on my pillow, and my bed was made up.

"My parents are coming home very soon, and I'd rather not let them know their Jamie slept in a girl's bed last night. Hope to see you soon. Love you, Lils."

And that was the last time I heard from James that summer. I visited often with my friends, who hadn't heard from him or Sirius. Jessy took it the hardest; they were like brothers to her. Although, I'm fairly certain she wanted Sirius as more than a friend…

"Of course not," she would mumble, with a blush.

Too soon, Hogwarts letters arrived. I was pleasantly surprised with my Head Girl badge. _You will have full use of the Heads' dormitories, but your bed will remain in place if you wish to stay in Gryffindor Tower._ I grinned widely. Having my own dorm? This would be awesome. I had talked to last year's Head Girl, and she told me that it was a large, lavish bedroom with a master bathroom attached. It also had a sitting room with a couple couches, a fireplace, and a large desk. There was a door off to the side that led to the Head Boy's room, but unless unlocked from each side you couldn't access it. It was guarded by a gargoyle, and you could set your password, as long as the teachers knew it. The gargoyle could talk; it announced who was at your door and if you wanted them to be let in or not. You could hear his voice even in the shower. He could rely messages to the visitors, too. It was a very neat piece of magic.

Soon September first arrived. I was more relieved than ever to forcefully shut my trunk, hearing the satisfying click of the lock, and, for the first time, using a spell to carry it down the stairs for me. My dad dropped me off outside the train station, and I found my way to platform 9 ¾. I waited as Alice said a teary goodbye to her parents, and to her older brother who would, for the first time in seven years, not be on the train. I looked as Mary gave hugs and kisses to her parents. Jessy gave an awkward hug to a strict looking woman I knew to be her mother, standing next to a younger Ravenclaw girl.

"To our compartment, ladies?" It was almost sad. We made our way to the compartment that we had shared since our first year. No matter who joined us, it had been us four.

I disappeared to the Prefect's meeting, and made it under an hour. When I arrived back, the girls were impressed. "That's what happens when I'm Head Girl," I informed them. Last year the meeting was almost the whole train ride. Uh.

"Remember when Severus sat with us?" Jessy giggled. "He totally disapproved of our Graffiti." We laughed at the memory of his scandalized face as we chipped at the walls.

"And, if they did the same spell as every year," I said dramatically, "our beautiful artwork should be…" I waved my wand, doing a powerful counter-disappearing spell, "here." We grinned as the walls of the compartment showed the extent of our vandalism.

"If they want to outsmart our Lily, they've got to learn some new spells to clean up," Alice giggled.

"Let's be glad they didn't," Mary said. I agreed.

The walls held our initials, showing Gryffindor pride, us hating on the Marauders, everything we thought we should pass on as our legacy. I carved "Lily, Head Girl," into the wall with my wand tip. We scratched, burned, and inked the walls.

When we were done, we admired our work. "And let's hope some day, a student accidentally reveals our work. They will know a story about four girls, living the dream, going to a magical school," Alice stated. We all got teary; it was the last time we would be on the Hogwarts Express on a September first.

And our door burst open, revealing a gasping Sirius Black. "What?" Jessy asked, more confused than anything as he slammed our door and drew the blinds.

"Just…hiding," Sirius panted. "James…was…on…this side," he said, finally catching his breath as he slumped between Jessy and Mary.

"As in, this side of the train?" Jessy asked.

"Yeah, I was hoping he'd make it." As Sirius said it, the door burst open, and James quickly slammed it behind him. He nonverbally shot a couple spells at the doors and windows.

"Glad to see you," he panted at Sirius.

"And you."

James sunk into the space between Alice and I. "What did you do?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, that prat Andrew Higgens from Ravenclaw got Head Boy," he said.

"So we thought we'd give him a welcome to remember," Sirius grinned.

"Do I want to know?" I asked.

"Probably not, so you won't give me detention." Potter grinned at me.

"And you aren't worried about the hundreds of points I could dock?" I asked.

He looked a bit surprised, and eyed for the first time my Head Girl badge. "Ah, Lily, what an honor. Congratulations."

I huffed. He laughed. "What is this all?" Sirius asked, looking around at our 'art'.

*Jessy

"And she still says she hates you," I sighed. I was looking at Lily, who had fallen asleep, squishing James against Alice. Alice sighed and sat on the floor, eating her sweets. James leaned against the wall, and Lily's head made its way to his knees. He sucked in a breath as her head moved, almost nestling into his lap.

"Having troubles, Prongs?" Sirius asked from beside me.

"Not at all," James said with a slightly strained voice.

Miraculously, Lily stayed asleep the whole ride, through games of exploding snap and our jellybean war. We heard banging on our compartment door, but whoever it was couldn't get in. "Impenatratable spells," James explained. He glanced down; Lily had one arm wrapped around his thigh, forcing his leg to spread out on the seat next to her, and her head rested on his other thigh.

"I wonder what she would say if she woke up right now," Alice giggled. "Does anyone have a camera?"

James looked longingly down at her. I swore he muttered something like, "If only."

"She'll come around," I promised with an encouraging smile.

"It hurts," he said. He sounded so broken, so un-James-like, in that moment. I wanted to give him a hug. Lily was the one who could break down an overly confident man into a sad, longing mess.

"Give us a month," Mary promised.

*Lily

I woke up to laughing, specifically my pillow shaking with restraining laughter. I knew that sound. "James, stop moving," I mumbled against him. "I'm trying to sleep." Then several voices laughed. "Shut up," I grouched.

"Lily, get off your lazy arse, we're here," Mary said. I assumed it was her who poked me.

"Mmm, sleep," I mumbled. If I had been any more awake, I'd have been to embarrassed to do anything but jump up and run away. But I was tired… I nestled my head into my 'pillow'.

"Lily." Someone woke me up again.

"If you don't wake up, we'll start our trip back to London again," Potter said. "I will carry you," he threatened.

I held my arms out, straight up. My pillow left me, and my head thumped against the seat. I groaned, and suddenly I was lifted up, bridal style, and Potter started walking. I breathed in his wonderful smell, resting my head in the hallow of his neck. And I started to wake up. Everyone was glancing at us oddly. I was sure the sixth years would have a rumor about us before the feast even started. "You know, you're starting a habit of sleeping with me," James said.

"Don't get used to it," I told him.

"But I think I am," he laughed.

"Come to me in my dreams, and then

By day I shall be well again.

For then the night will more than pay

The hopeless longing of the day." James whispered. I looked up, but he was staring straight forward.

"James…"

"Hurry up, you two, this is the last carriage, and it's leaving!" Without a word, James set me down in a seat and threw himself into excited conversation with Sirius.

"I know it seems futile to remind some of you," Dumbledore said, "But the Forbidden Forrest is off limits, hence its name." He stared at Sirius and James with a twinkle in his eye. "We have fallen into dark times. Be safe, and have a wonderful school year."

"Lily, let's go check out your new dorm," Mary said excitedly. I watched as the sixth year prefects rounded up the first-years and led them to Gryffindor Tower.

"That's right, Lily gets the Head Girl chambers," Sirius said.

"And with a ever-so-shaggable Head Boy just a door knock away," Alice teased. "I heard some stories about last year's heads…" Mary coughed and kicked Alice under the table. I laughed at her expression, though I didn't know it was from the murderous look on James' face.

"Let's go see it," Jessy said, tugging on my arm. I grinned, and we wondered off, finding the gargoyle.

"Lily Evans," It said.

"Yes," I replied, though it wasn't really a question.

"Congratulations on your new post. You can set your password now." I thought, and whispered it into the gargoyle's ear.

"Very well. You may enter." We walked into the room, and I gasped at the beauty. It was lavishly furnished, and beautiful.

"Impressive, as always," I heard from the doorway. "Nice to see you again, Jake." I whipped my head around to see Sirius, Remus, and Potter.

"Master Black," the gargoyle said neutrally.

"You've been up here?" I asked accusingly.

"Of course," Sirius said as if it were obvious. "I'm not sure when you'll learn, Evans, but many ladies beg for my presence. Even the ones you would least expect give in to me." He smirked. I was opening my mouth to make a smart remark when there was a knock. I turned and eyed the door that it came from. I walked over and yanked the door open.

"Oh, hi," I said to Andrew. "I didn't actually think that we would have a door connecting rooms."

"Of course, I had to test the theory," he said with a smile. His deep voice was slow and calming. I invited him in, and in turn I got to see his rooms.

Eventually we said goodnight, and my friends left. I took a long luxurious bath in my new, oversized bathtub. At least it wasn't the size of a swimming pool, like the Prefects shared. That would be a little too much. I waved my wand and my body instantly dried. I rummaged around in my trunk for a sports bra or something I could wear to bed. I stopped when I found Potter's practice shirt. I put it on over my old sports bra and a pair of very short, stretchy shorts that were acceptable to wear in public my second year. I breathed in the smell; it was wonderful.

I unpacked my trunk into the huge wardrobe, placing my books, quills, and spare parchment on my desk. I hung pictures of my friends and I on the walls and packed my bag for the next day. I had just ran and jumped into my massive, pillow covered bed when Jake's voice interrupted my plans. "You have a guest, shall I let them in?"

Curious, I said, "Yes please," without thinking. I walked into my sitting room and was shocked to see Potter standing near the door. "What are you doing here?" I asked, confused.

"You're wearing my shirt," he said with a smile. I had forgot.

"Er, yeah. I forgot all my pajamas at home, and I had brought this to give back. I figured I could give it to you once my parents mailed my things," I lied.

His face fell slightly. "Oh. Sure."

"So," I prompted.

It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He looked like he was struggling for words. And finally, "Please tell me you aren't going to hook up with Higgens."

"What?" Whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that.

"Please, Lily," James strode forward and grabbed my hand. "Please, _please_ tell me you won't do anything with him."

"I don't see how that's any of your business." He looked like I slapped him across the face.

"Lily," he whispered. "I…I don't know how many times I have to say it. I care for you. I _love_ you." He rubbed small circles on my hand with his thumb.

"James." I was angry. "We had a good thing going on," I said. "A nice friendship. Why are you trying to ruin it?"

"I can't be friends with you. And you have to admit you like me as more." His plea was almost desperate.

"But I don't." I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but to me you'll always be the boy who tormented my youth." He stepped closer, and my knees hit a couch as I backed away. James pushed me back, and I fell into a laying position. He lay on top of me, pressing himself on my body. Not heavily, but enough for me to really feel him. His head bent closer to mine, to where I was sure he was going to kiss me. I turned my head, just to be safe.

"And you're not thinking anything sexual right now?" he whispered, his lips brushing my jawbone.

"No." If only my answer wasn't a lie.

"Lily." I could almost hear his heart breaking, and it stirred something inside me. As he walked quickly to the door, I longed for him to be on top of me once again…

"Wait, James." I sat up. He stopped in his tracks, turning to look at me. I noticed, with shock, the tears on his face. And then I knew it: he really did love me. All those years, I thought he had been playing some prank on me, just so no other male would come near me. But the evidence of heartbreak was etched all over his face.

"Yes?" he whispered.

"I wore your shirt because I'm in love with the smell," I confessed. "It's your scent. Nothing in the world smells better than it.

" "Lils-"

"No, Jamie, listen." I took a deep breath. "I never thought you were serious. I thought it was a prank, to get no other guy near me. You were mean to others, so arrogant that insults simply bounced off you. You didn't listen to anyone, and you were a horrible git."

"I tried to change for you," he said softly, "but you didn't notice."

"But I have," I said. My heart was beating a million times a minute and my stomach had a bad case of the butterflies. "You've changed over the last year. You're no longer that boy, Potter. You're a man."

He slowly grinned. "So all it took was the final stages of puberty…"

"Shut up."

With a smirk, he walked back to me. "And now that you've said yes to me, I have nothing more to do than love you for forever." James leaned forward and brushed his lips softly against mine. He pulled back and looked at me.

"I'm not going to hit you," I promised.

"Finally." James kissed me with more force, and I willingly opened my mouth to his prodding tongue. The butterflies in my stomach magnified to live bolts of electricity. I felt _alive. _My hands pushed open his robes, and he let them fall. We fell back onto the couch, and I buried my hands in his impossibly messy hair. I pulled my mouth away for air, and as James kissed my neck, I started to play with it, trying to shape it. "What are you doing?" he mumbled against my throat.

"I've wanted to do this for years," I told him as I gave him a combover. Which, of course, didn't stay.

"You're finally willingly snogging me, and yet you're most content playing with my hair?"

"Jamie," I said simply. Moving my hands down to either side of his head, I brought his face to mine. "Jamie," I whispered against his lips.

"You're the only one who ever calls me that, did you know?" he said, his voice deep and sexy. I kissed him again.

"And you're the only one who calls me Lils," I replied.

And I woke up.


	10. Chapter 10

And I woke up. All my blankets were shoved to the very bottom of my huge bed, and the pillows were on the floor. I breathed deeply the scent of James Potter that came from his shirt. "Are you up?" Jake's voice echoed though my room.

"Yes, thank you," I mumbled. I got up and dressed, pulling my stockings up, angrily muttering at them. Why were they required with our skirts? You could hardly tell the difference between them and my plain legs. And then there was the problem of them staying up. Jessy discovered the power of the garter belt. I knew they were associated with sex, but they really were helpful when your school uniform was provided and their damn stockings just didn't stay up. I shimmied on my skirt and blouse, loosely looping a gold and scarlet tie around my neck. I threw on my robes and slipped on my shoes last, running out the door after grabbing my bag. I didn't love James Potter. I couldn't. What was the meaning of that dream? Was it my subconscious mind trying to tell me something? Note to self: stop taking divination so seriously.

I knew how late it was when I reached the Great Hall and some students were already leaving to go to their first class. I walked quickly towards my friends, reaching my spot just as the food magically disappeared from the tables, leaving just the food on their plates. Which wasn't much. "Oh, sorry, Lily," Alice said.

"Why were you so late?"

"Usually I have miss morning sunshine to wake me up," I said glaring at her. "You got me into the habit of waiting for you until I get up. Luckily Jake woke me, otherwise I could have slept for hours." I sighed, looking around for anything worth eating. The bell from the clock tower echoed throughout the castle, and I got up with everyone else and made my way to first hour. "None of you are taking potions?" I asked with disbelief.

"Sorry, no," Mary said as we parted ways. I unhappily made my way to the dungeons, my stomach growling. "I noticed you missed breakfast," Remus said, coming up beside me. We followed Sirius and-my belly filled with butterflies-James. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," I sighed again. Breakfast was really important to me.

"Want some chocolate?" Sirius asked, turning his head to look at me. James didn't turn around, rather started talking to a classmate in front of him. My tummy grumbled.

"Yes," I said. He looked surprised, and dug out a chocolate frog from his pocket.

"Here."

"Thanks." I unwrapped it and shoved it whole into my mouth. I hastily chewed and swallowed, finishing it before we walked into the potions classroom. "This tastes different," I said, thoughtfully chewing. Remus shrugged. As I quietly brewed my potion, I started to think about Sirius. He really was handsome. His longer, black hair was silky looking and neat, unlike Potter's unruly mane. His handsome face was enough to give any girl weak knees. And the fact that he had been with so many people really didn't bother me. When Professor Slughorn proclaimed my potion perfect, I cleaned it up and followed Sirius and James out of the classroom. "Sirius?" I asked.

He turned. "Yeah, Lily?"

"When did you get so hot?" I asked. Any other time, I would have been embarrassed, but now wasn't that time.

He turned around in complete disbelief. Potter's jaw dropped. "Are you alright, Evans?" Sirius asked nervously.

"Of course." I walked up to him and placed my hand on his chest, slowly running it down. He caught my hand before I got to his pants.

"No," whispered James. "You've got to be kidding me. No." He stared at me with such hurt in his eyes, tears welling up.

"James," Sirius said with wide eyes. He leaned forward and whispered urgently into James' ear.

James glared a him. "Fix it, now."

"Let's just wait it out. It will only be a few hours," Sirius said pleadingly.

"What are you two talking about?" I walked over to Sirius and grabbed his arm, squishing it against my boob as I clung to him.

"Nothing, Lily," he said. "Let's explain after, James." James looked furious.

"What's the matter, Potter?" I asked. It didn't seem like that big of a deal… "Sirius, do you want to go find a broom cupboard?" I asked suddenly. It seemed like a good idea. Why not?

"No!" James yelled. We made it to lunch, and I scarfed down my food quickly, following the boys' example. As we were leaving, I spotted my friends entering from the side entrance.

"Wait, Siri, let's go say hi to them…"

"Let's not," he said.

I pouted my lips. "Whatever you say," I replied. I waved to them as we exited, walking around until our next class. I sat next to Sirius in Herbology. Jessy was taking that class, and looked at me with interest. I just simply couldn't pay attention to the lesson, not with Sirius sitting next to me. I stared at him, memorizing every feature of his face. "You're so pretty," I told him. He ignored me. I couldn't have that. "I got this new lingerie set the other day," I told him. "I'm wearing it now, if you want to see after class." Sirius still didn't look at me. I reached over and touched his leg, slowly moving up, my fingers slowly dancing across his lap. He jumped up and walked over to the storage room, having completed his task.

"Evans, come on. Let's get you to your room."

"Only if you come, too," I giggled.

"Padfoot." Potter's voice came from behind us as we walked up to the castle.

"I know, Prongs," he replied, his voice tired. I turned around and looked at Potter.

"Would you mind leaving us alone?" I asked sweetly with a smile.

"Yes, Lils, I would." He walked on my other side. We entered the castle and started climbing the stairs.

"Just for like ten minutes, Potter," I argued. I turned to face Sirius. "Unless you want more?" I questioned.

"Lily, James is staying with us."

"Why won't you even look at me?" I questioned. When he remained silent, I felt rejected. Heartbroken. I realized why he wouldn't be alone with me. "You don't love me, do you?" He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, I love you. And I won't give up." We were almost to my room, but I couldn't wait that long. I pushed him against a wall between two suits of armor and kissed him. He shoved me back, and I tripped onto the ground.

"Lily, you don't know what you're doing," he said softly.

As he backed away, I sprang up and attempted to go after him, only to find myself held back. "Let me go!" I demanded, struggling against James' arms. I was feeling desperate.

"Prongs, it's near the end, that's why it's so bad. I'll leave, but you need to stay. She'll want comfort after." I ripped myself from James' arms and sprinted towards Sirius. Potter caught me again and started marching me back towards my room.

I struggled as Jake asked, "Rough first day?" He sprang aside and let us in, though I was trying my hardest to escape it probably looked like I was just fidgeting. James was so strong.

"Please, please let me go," I asked Potter in a broken voice.

"I'm sorry."

He sat me down on the couch next to him, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. After a little bit, I wondered why I was struggling. What was so important that I had to go snog Sirius right now? I calmed more, stopping altogether. I thought about my actions that day, and soon I was mortified. I didn't say anything, but started crying. What the hell happened? "It was a love potion, wasn't it?" I asked quietly, though my tears.

"Yeah, Lils. It was."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. His hand started slowly rubbing my shoulder, comforting me. "It's not your fault. It wasn't even Sirius'. Trust me, if I thought it was his idea of a funny prank, he'd probably be in the hospital wing."

I nestled my head into his shoulder, feeling suddenly lost, unwanted, and unhappy along with embarrassment and mortification. "Did anyone else notice?" I was afraid of the answer.

"I think the only one who caught on was Jessy, but I explained about the potion. Nobody will think less of you, Lils."

"What a great first day. I'm tired," I complained. I just wanted to go to bed and forget the day.

He chuckled softly. "It's four in the afternoon."

I sighed for the millionth time that day. "Do we have much homework?" A house elf provided us with dinner in my room as James and I worked on our homework together. We wrote essays that could easily score an O.

I told him about the uneventfulness of my summer, and he told me about his mandatory vacation. Apparently a couple dark wizards rumored to be in league with the You-Know-Who had escaped from their way to Azkaban. James' parents were the Aurors who caught them, and were forced into a guarded house in Spain, just to be safe. James and Sirius weren't allowed out until the wizards were caught, which had been two weeks prior. "Luckily nothing happened," he explained. Glancing at a wristwatch, he said, "It's getting late, I should go back so I don't get caught out of bed."

"What's that? James Potter, being responsible and caring to follow the rules?"

He chuckled. "I suppose so." He got up and stretched, his robes splaying widely making him look like a giant bat.

"Wait," I said as he walked toward the door.

"Yeah?"

"Stay with me." I stared into his eyes from the few feet separating us. I just felt…alone, empty. Probably the after affects of the potion, I realized.

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Sure, Lils."

I walked into my bathroom, and changed into his shirt. I climbed into my big bed, where he was already reclining comfortably. I lay my head down on his bare chest and listened to his heart beat.

"You're wearing my shirt," he whispered as he stroked my hair.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I'm kinda in love with the smell. Your smell." My eyes stayed closed, breathing in the boy who my head rested on. That much of my dream, I would admit was true.

I could hear the joy in his voice as he said, "Goodnight, Lils."

" 'Night, Jamie."

*Jessy

"Okay, I understand it's a Saturday morning, but it's a bit ridiculous for her to still be sleeping," I grumbled.

"Have any of you seen James?" Sirius asked, walking into my dorm. I had to control myself, not to blush. I was standing in the room in my bra, underwear, and garter belt/stocking ensemble. It amazed me how he hadn't before been caught sneaking upstairs, and I never got a straight answer on how he did it.

"No, sorry," I said as I quickly grabbed a blouse and flung it on. It hung low enough to cover my underwear, but it did nothing to hide the top of my stockings. I hastily buttoned it, my fingers not able to work fast enough. He winked at me, and to hide my embarrassment, I grinned and flipped my hair flirtatiously.

"Wait," Mary said slowly. "If James is gone, and Lily hasn't been up her like she promised first thing…"

"Then they're together," Alice concluded. We grinned.

"Let's not be too sure," I said, fighting my wide smile as I shimmied my skirt on, completing my uniform.

"Let's go see," Sirius said eagerly.

"No," Mary protested. "What if they're doing stuff?"

"I agree," Alice said. "We don't want to interrupt. What if James is having the perfect moment with her, and we barge in and ruin it?"

"Besides, do any of us even know the password?" They shook their heads. "Then let's just leave them be. We'll find out soon enough."

*Lily

I stretched comfortably, nestling my head into the warm, firm surface beneath my cheek. I smiled as I felt hands around my waist, stroking up my back and playing with my hair. I would know that smell anywhere.

"Jamie," I mumbled into his chest.

"Morning, Lils." As I woke up more, I realized that I wasn't cuddling beside him. I was completely on him. As in, my chest to his stomach, feet to feet, legs in an 'every other' fashion.

"Sorry," I said as I rolled off.

"Don't be," he said.

"Did I really try to shag Sirius yesterday?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Yes. And it's not your fault, so just forget about it." I looked outside my hangings, only to see the high sun from my window.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"A little after noon," James replied. He got up and went into my bathroom, leaving the door open. I heard the sink turn on, and inferred that he was brushing his teeth. After he was done, I brushed mine and we got dressed.

"Lunch?" I asked. If we hurried, we could make the last fifteen minutes.

"Sounds good."

*Jessy

"There they are," I hissed, slapping the table excitedly.

"Calm down," Sirius said, placing a hand on my thigh and squeezing slightly. My insides got twisted and I fought the urge to blush as his hand stayed there. I would put money down and say that he didn't even know what he did to me.

"Hey, you two," Mary said as they sat down.

Lily glanced up from grabbing food. "Hey."

"Er, been up to anything interesting?"

"No, we just woke up," Lily explained.

"Sleeping…with each other?" I questioned, unsuccessfully attempting to hide my huge smile. James glanced up, with a small smile that said everything. Close, but not enough.

"No," Lily said firmly.

To my amazement, we made it through the day without anything insane happening, which was much more boring than the love potion fiasco from the day before. I watched and listened to James and Lily, though nothing out of the ordinary happened. He annoyed her, she glared daggers, he was nice and she tried to be friends once again.

I walked past Sirius snogging a random girl, who he didn't even remember the name of later. It hurt so much I thought I could puke. I cried for an hour, and when I charmed my face to its normal, non-puffy state I snuck into Sirius' bed. He welcomed me with an open arm, "Hey Jess." I slept next to him, charming his bed to a queen, though it would appear to be twin from the outside. I mentally thanked Lily for that one. She really was exceptional at Charms.


	11. Chapter 11

*Lily

"I'm so sorry," Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "I understand if you wish to have time away from your classes, but I do warn you that it is not wise to dwell on the negative, and I advise you to keep busy and not push your friends away."

My family was dead. The words kept ringing around my head as I left Dumbledore's office. My parents and all the family on my dad's side had died. They were celebrating my grandparent's 50th anniversary. I had no one, save Petunia, who I would never see again anyway. My grandparents were my saviors; when my parents got a bit too ridiculous, I would stay with them. They were everything to me, and now a fire had taken them all. Tears streamed down my face as I wondered into the Head Girl's chambers. I couldn't believe they were all gone; my uncle and aunt, my four cousins… I didn't know how long I stood in front of the fire, frozen, unable to move until James found me. I didn't know how he got in.

"Everyone else got detentions today," he told me. "Even Alice. Want to know how?" he prodded. He sat stood next to me, and was startled by my red eyes, the tears and the vacant eyes. "Lils, what's wrong?" he asked. I didn't respond right away.

Eventually I said, "My family's dead." I released a new stream of tears. Saying it out loud for myself made it more real.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. I collapsed back into a sofa, silent sobs shaking my body. I was torn, my heart ripped from me. I had no one, save my Hogwarts friends. "Lils," James whispered from next to me. I practically flung my body onto his. I took comfort in his presence; the familiarity of his body against mine and the pounding of his heart told me I wasn't alone. I shamelessly cried against James. He hugged me, whispered words of comfort and even sang to me.

I woke up, somehow in my bed, and my body felt physically exhausted. I didn't want to move an inch. "Hey beautiful," James said. "How you feeling?" he asked. I again was using his chest as a pillow.

"Impossible," I replied sadly. "It feels like my heart's been ripped apart… not just my parents, but I now have no one related to me except Petunia. And she's never going to talk to me anyways. I don't have a family. My grandparents, my cousins, my aunt and uncle… they're gone." I shed another couple tears, which was wiped away from my face by a long finger.

"You have me," James said. "You have Alice, Jessy, Mary, Sirius, Remus, Peter. You have us. We're your family, and always have been."

"I know." I nestled my face into his neck. He smelled wonderful, completely James.

After a several heartbeats, James said, "Breakfast is soon, if you want to go down."

"I don't want to go to class today," I told him. "I don't want everyone to feel sorry for me. I couldn't stand their looks of sympathy. The best thing would be for no one to even know."

"But they're your friends," James protested.

"I know." After a pause, I asked, "Would you tell them? Just go down and explain, but tell them not to give me sympathetic looks and such… but they'll know in the first place."

"Is that really what you want?" James asked. His fingers trailed down my back, tracing my spine.

"Yeah." I rolled off him.

"Alright," he said slowly. "You sure you're okay to be alone?"

"Of course," I mumbled as I closed my eyes. "Take good notes for me in class today, okay?"

"You'll have perfect notes for every class."

"Thanks, Jamie." And he was gone.

*Jessy

I listened as James described Lily's condition over my bowl of porridge. I was horrified, of course, but as he hurried away, we decided that we would keep to her wishes and not say anything about it to her. We would act normal, for her. "Wow," I heard Sirius say next to me. His hand reached out, almost an automatic, unknowing action, and gently rubbed my back a couple of times. "I guess I wouldn't care if my family died, but I can only imagine," he said.

"I know," I said as my heart broke into pieces, not from Lily's parents, but from Sirius. His hand left my back and he stood up, stretching.

"Let's go to class, shall we?"

*Lily

I cried, wondering the castle, casting an advanced invisibility charm we had learned the day before in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Yesterday. It seemed so long ago. Granny and Grandfather were still alive, along with the cousins I wished were siblings. Yesterday. _This, along with many spells I shall teach you this year, will be very, very difficult, to the point where you may not ever perfect them. Try your hardest, and practice, practice, practice. _I had been sitting in class, showing up Potter in the invisibility charm, when a younger student came into class and I was called to Dumbledore's office.

I wondered outside and started hiking through the trees. I didn't go into the Forbidden Forrest, but off to the side, past the Quidditch pitch. It was a cloudy day, almost raining. I loved rain. It was so pretty, and the earth smelled nice when it rained. I got to a rocky patch, and climbed higher in elevation. In younger years, I would come out here, by myself, just to read or practice my spells in private. I went to a familiar spot, and sat down. From here I had a fantastic view of the castle, as well as the lake and the Gamekeeper's hut.

Eventually it started to sprinkle. I looked up, not afraid of the rain. It looked like the stars were falling from heaven. Like my family was looking down at me.

"Hey."

Without looking or questioning how he knew I was there, I leaned my head onto the shoulder next to me.

That day, James kept me company, completely devoted to cheering me up. He relentlessly made me laugh, bringing up stories of old times. At lunch, everyone acted a little too cheerful, but that was better than sympathy. I attended my afternoon classes, like nothing happened, ignoring the weight on my shoulders, or the threatening tears just waiting to spring upon me in a moment of weakness.

And then night came. I tossed and turned in my big, lonely bed that I had by myself, a five-minute walk from my friends. I was lonely. In that moment, I didn't realize how much I missed being next to somebody. And with a jolt, I realized that somebody was James Potter. His smell came from the shirt I constantly wore to bed, fainter yet still there. I hadn't ever slept with anybody, not even shared a bed with my roommates for more than a good girl gossip session. I had slept next to James. He was my rock, the person I could count on to be there when I was an emotional mess. Potter didn't judge me. He was better at comforting me than my friends. Before I knew what I was doing, I had slipped out of my bed and threw an everyday robe over his old jersey I was wearing. I cast the helpful invisibility charm over myself, and headed off to Gryffindor Tower.

I didn't even hesitate, but went up the boys' staircase. Sneaking up another seven flights of stairs, I arrived to the dorm. I made myself visible again, and was just reaching out to open the door when it swung open from the inside. I let out a small squeal of surprise when James almost ran headfirst into me. "Lils," he said quietly. His grin said everything.

"Do you mind if I stay with you?" I whispered.

His smile got impossibly bigger. "Of course not." James took my hand and led me to his bed. It still held my charm to be bigger, but I knew that wasn't necessary. His grin was maintained as I shrugged out of my robe, and I realized that, yet again, I failed to wear anything other than my panties on my bottom. James didn't object as I went straight to his chest as my pillow.

"Where were you going?" I whispered.

"To your room," he replied just as quietly. "But I see that wasn't necessary now."

"I think you're right about me making a habit of sleeping with you," I murmured.

"Of course I was."

"It's impossible to sleep without you next to me. You're like my old teddy bear."

He chuckled; I felt it under me more than heard it. "Goodnight, Lils."

"I'm going to get this," I murmured to Alice as I concentrated. Hogwarts letter, Prefect, Head Girl, "expecto patronum." A couple wisps of silver emitted from my wand. I irritably noted that James and Sirius were making their patronuses play tag with each other, bounding around the room, a large, shaggy dog versus a stag with an obnoxiously large rack.

"I wonder if that means he has a big dick," Mary said bluntly. "Let us know when you find out, Lils." Jessy and Alice laughed as I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly, a shape soared from my wand and disappeared just as quickly. "Did you see that?" I asked excitedly, jumping a little. "I did it!"

"Now try and keep it, Miss Evans," Professor Keenan said, coming over to us. "Don't let anything break your concentration."

"Expecto patronum," I said confidently, thinking of my happiest moments. A beautiful doe shot out from my wand, and trotted in a circle around me. I laughed, delighted. "Look at her!" I exclaimed.

"Nice job, Lily," Alice complemented me.

"Nu-uh," Jessy said with a huge grin.

"What?" I asked, not wanting to break my concentration as my doe was now sniffing at a mouse across the room.

"Your patronus is a doe. See that?" she pointed at the stag. "James' patronus is a stag." I turned red involuntarily as my doe left the mouse and pranced proudly over to the stag. James looked up, completely taken by surprise, only to see my red face. He smiled kindly at me, and I refused to acknowledge his existence as I struggled to keep my doe alive.

"And we all know what that means," Alice giggled.

"No," I said. "It means nothing. What could it possibly mean?" my doe flickered, and I focused on keeping it up. To make things more embarrassing, she was now rubbing necks with Potter's stag.

"If you say so," Jessy said with a shrug. "But your patronus is part of your soul. There's no way it couldn't mean anything like you and James have a bit of matching soul." Others were now noticing; I'm fairly certain Sirius wolf-whistled. My embarrassment grew resulting in my doe disappearing in a small 'pop'. Severus was glaring from across the room, and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, and let me see yours," I snickered. I tried to play it off as a joke.

"Expecto patronum," she said with a look of concentration. A lean, shorthaired dog sprouted from the tip of her wand. She looked amazed.

I laughed. "So by your logic, you and Sirius…"

"Shut up," she said, with a small smile.

*Jessy

"Okay, enough is enough!" I slammed my hands down on the table Alice, Mary, Lily, and I were studying around in the Head Girl's dorm.

Lily looked up to see me glaring at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You. You make me want to slap you."

"I'm sorry, if you'd rather keep your spelling mistake…"

"Not about the essay. About James. You. Your relationship with James." I continued my glare, and she started fidgeting, almost as if she were feeling guilty. Good.

"I agree," Mary chimed in. "You really need to stop this."

"Before you ruin it forever," Alice backed us up.

"What?" If I didn't know better, I'd say Lily was genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You are in love with James. You just won't admit it, because you don't know what love is. He is in love with you, and has been for years. He has admitted it, on several occasions, straight to your face." Her eyes widened in understanding.

"You just need to quit whatever stubborn façade you keep putting on and go out with him," Alice joined in.

"You won't know how much you have until he's gone," Mary put in.

"Exactly." Lily tried to say something, but I said, "No, let me finish." I took a deep breath. "He got asked out today, and you know what he said? He said no. Because he's waiting, just like he's waited for you, practically ever since you two met."

"But that won't always happen," Alice put in. "If you don't ever get together with him, he'll move on. Reluctantly, but he will."

"He thinks he has a chance, now more than ever, so he's waiting with no distraction on the side," I said.

"And we're not stupid. We know you two sleep with each other. Not sex, just sleep, which I don't understand the point of," Mary interjected. "But think: are you really going to be welcome in his bed when he's going out with another woman? Because I think the answer is no. And then you'll regret your constant turning down of him."

"Damn it, Lily, just go out with him. Hogsmeade is tomorrow. Lord knows how many times he's asked you out; don't you think it would be nice if you did the asking for once?" I shook my head. "I'm not even giving you the option of saying no. You _will_ go with him, or I won't ever talk to you again."

"Or me," Mary said.

"Or me," Alice said. "You're tearing him apart. He deserves you."

"If you don't go out with him," I threatened, now leaning across the table and into her face, trying to look menacing, "I will personally hex you, to where you have to check into St. Mungo's."

"So what do you say?" Alice put in.

We stared at her as her face began to change. She looked off into space, slightly smiling, biting her lip, then frowning, to where she looked confused. Lily then said, "Here's the thing." She sighed and leaned back into the foot of a couch. "I get what you're saying. But we're really good as friends. What if I say yes, and everything goes wrong?"

"That won't happen," I told her confidently. "James would kill himself and everyone else before he let you get hurt."

"No," Mary interrupted. "You won't get hurt because you two are made for each other."

"And let's be honest. Friends?" Alice said skeptically. "He's just saying that to pacify you; he's never going to want to be friends with all the time he's been madly in love for you."

She looked around to all of us. I simply stared back expectantly; Mary winked, and Alice gave a nod of encouragement. Lily closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Then, "Alright."

We let out a loud scream in unison, to the point where Jake asked worriedly, "Are you girls alright?"

"We're fine," Lily called out to him.

"Do keep in mind that I can't see and try not to give me a heart attack. Or better yet, activate my self-defense spells."

"Sorry!" we called with more giggles, wondering what exactly the defensive spells were.

"But you guys can't tell him, or anyone," Lily said, quieting us down. "I want this to happen naturally, without you ruining it."

"Just make it happen fast, before we decide to disobey our Head Girl and step in anyways," Mary told her. We laughed together, the mood greatly lifted.

"And be nice," I said. "We know how much you've enjoyed playing around with his feelings in years past."

She rolled her eyes. "Got it."

"That was pretty good," I said thoughtfully to Mary and Alice. "It's almost like we planned it."


	12. Chapter 12

*Lily

I couldn't believe it. Years of saying no, harsh rejections and for fun jinxing, and _I_ was about to ask _James_ out. I paced in my own common room, rearranging furniture with flicks of my wand. I opened my windows wide, and lit the fire to keep the room a neutral temperature against the chilly night air.

I debated about how I would ask him. I had no doubt that he would come to my room; of course he would. Jessy was right; he tried to be closer to me with every chance. And telling him I couldn't fall asleep without him would obviously mean I needed him by my side. He would definitely come. But what would I say? Would I flat out ask, 'Will you go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?' or maybe subtly hint, something like, 'Everyone else has dates to Hogsmeade, but I don't.' and see where that got me, and simply say yes to him?

"Mr. Potter is here," Jake announced as the door opened and Potter walked in.

"Hey, Lils. How are you?" he asked.

I bounced out of my seat, too nervous to sit down. I was suddenly very aware of my looks; was my robe crinkled? Did my hair look too frizzy? Maybe I should have worn make-up. "Good," I replied. "You?"

He chuckled. "Better." James yawned and stretched out. I saw he was wearing pajama pants and a white tee shirt under his robes. Good. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Oh, almost eleven."

"Wow, where has the day gone?" I wondered. "The first week of school, already in the past."

"Yeah." He sat down, stretching down across a couch.

"Er…I'm going to shower," I said. "Then let's go to sleep." A shower would earn me more time to think, as well as calm me down.

"Alright," James said easily.

As I magically dried myself, I had my plan in mind. I wore his shirt, like always. I lay down in my bed, and called, "Jamie!"

He slowly walked into my room and took off his robes. "Do you mind?" he asked as he held the hem of his shirt, lifting it a bit. I gulped as I saw a brilliant 'v' shape at his pants line.

"Not at all." James laid down next to me. I barley hesitated before scooting over to him and laying my head down on his chest.

"Does it bother you that I want you to stay with me?" I asked.

His chest rumbled as he laughed. "Not at all."

"And it doesn't bother you that you could be in a different girl's bed, having sex?" I bluntly asked.

"Lilyflower, you will always come first." His words were soft He started stroking my long hair like he always did.

"You mean that?"

"Of course." His voice was sad. Remembering what Jessy said about not playing with his emotions, I decided to get the show on the road.

"So tomorrow's the first Hogsmeade trip."

"Yeah. You excited?" he asked.

"Of course. I love the village." And the fact that it would be my first official date. But he didn't know that yet. "Are you going with anyone?" I slowly moved my hand to his chest next to my head, feeling his abdomen. His heart beat a little quicker.

"Nah," he replied. "Not this time."

"Oh. Was there anybody you wanted to ask?" I prodded.

"No."

My heart sunk slightly. I lifted my head up and looked into his face. "You sure about that?" I asked quietly, looking into his eyes.

"There is this one girl, but I'm sure she's not interested," he said after a moment's hesitation. He looked away from my eyes as he talked.

"And how are you so sure?" I said.

"She's never been interested in me before, and I'm not sure I could take another rejection."

"Well, maybe you could ask her, one last time. You never know until you try, do you?" His eyes snapped back to my face and stared intently into mine, as if trying to read my thoughts.

"Lils," he whispered. I continued to hover over him, waiting. "Oh, fuck it. Lily, will you go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

I laughed, half relieved and half out of joy. "Yes." I leaned forward into a hug, where I was basically just laying on top of him. He laughed too, his body vibrating beneath mine.

"Finally." He brushed his lips softly against mine, and everywhere he touched felt like fire. I was very aware that we were in a bed as he deepened the kiss. His tongue brushed my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth. This was what I didn't feel when I snogged Shane. The heat…I was sure my cheeks were blushing as he rolled us over, me on the bottom. My breath came in short gasps, and my stomach was tingling past the point of butterflies, now on to a smoldering fire. I couldn't believe the effect he had on me; I couldn't think.

Too soon, he pulled back, hovering above me and staring into my eyes. I sighed and tried to calm my breathing. Grinning, he rolled onto his back, folding his arms beneath his head. "I can't believe you made me fall for you," I whispered into the silence.

"It had to happen sometime," he told me.

"I know," I murmured. I rolled over, onto his chest, and fell asleep to him stroking my hair, listening to the beat of his heart.

When I woke up, I was surprised. Last night, I thought I was too wound up to sleep. Evidently not. I glanced at the clock to see that it was almost ten. I decided to wake James up so we could go on our date. My stomach fluttering, I sat up beside him and started to trace his face, playing with his messy hair. He looked so different without his glasses on. In his sleep he looked… almost innocent. His eyelids fluttered. As soon as his eyes opened sleepily, I leaned down to kiss him. James gasped, surprised. I pulled back, slightly worried. He sat up, and said, "Good morning." The mischievous glint in his eye was back as he grabbed his glasses from the bedside table.

" 'Morning," I replied.

"So last night wasn't just a dream?" he asked.

"No," I said, giving him a shy smile.

He didn't say anything, but pulled me in for a kiss.

We got ready and headed down to breakfast before going to Hogsmeade. "You know," I said as we walked, "I didn't think guys liked cheesy things like holding hands."

"I can't answer for all men, but I definitely like holding your hand." James smiled, and for the hundredth time that morning my stomach fluttered. We walked into the Great Hall, and over to our friends at Gryffindor table. As we walked, we heard some (not so quiet) whispering.

"Are they holding hands?"

"Lily is willingly with James?"

"Why are they together?"

"Do you think they're going out?"

"No, don't be stupid, they'd never-"

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to Jessy. James sat next to me, and I pretended like it wasn't a big deal when he didn't drop our hands.

"Hey," she said distractedly, glancing over. She froze, and looked up with a giant grin. "I take it everything worked out?" she asked loudly. That made everyone look up, and I froze in the spotlight.

"Yeah," I squeaked. I noticed not just our table, but most everyone in the hall was looking our way. James smirked widely and I nudged him as my face started to turn red. He controlled his laughter.

"What does Jessy mean?" Sirius asked pointedly. "Some of us are still in the dark."

"I…Er…" I glanced at James, who was staring at me with a small smile. "Oh, whatever." I brought my face up to his and kissed him, in front of everyone. His hands went to the back of my neck and my cheek, making the kiss longer as he held me. His tongue slid into my mouth, and I had to separate myself before I got too carried away, in front of everyone.

"Yes!" Sirius bellowed. There was even some clapping and a few whistles from those who saw us across the great hall. We broke apart, and I, still blushing, looked down, refusing to have eye contact with anyone. James again grabbed my hand under the table, and I smiled at my breakfast.

*Jessy

"Hey, Jess," I heard from behind me. I turned and looked.

"Hey Alex," I said hesitantly with a smile. We had dated in fifth year for a while, but I broke it off because I thought I'd had a chance with Sirius. I'd been wrong, of course. I looked around; the hall was empty. "Where you headed?" I asked.

"To the library, you?"

"Same." After a pause, "What have you been up to lately?" I asked.

"Just studying, and Quidditch."

"Oh yeah, congratulations on captaincy," I said. I looked, noting he was in shape. "How's the team doing so far?"

"Good, but I'm sure Gryffindor will be hard to beat. That Potter's a maniac, and Black's insane with that bludger."

"Yeah, they're a bit obsessed," I said, rolling my eyes. "I've even heard there's a scout from Ireland coming.

"Oh, good for them," he said kindly.

"But I'm sure that's just a rumor," I continued. "After all, they're bloody idiots who can't get enough attention." He nodded, and after a pause he spoke.

"So why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" he asked.

"All my friends have a date, and I didn't want to be the awkward third wheel for any of them, so I decided to stay and get some work done."

"Really? I happen to have the same problem as you. What luck." His grin was genuine.

We ended up working at a table with each other, catching up on all the things we didn't know, different house drama and such. We laughed so hard we ended up getting kicked out of the library. We wondered around, and ended up snogging in a broom cupboard. Before I knew it, he had his hands up my skirt, pulling down my panties; and I let him. "Alex," I breathed as he made love to me.

I quickly did up my blouse again, hastily doing my tie as I realized what time it was. "So, next Hogsmeade, want to hang out?" he asked, kissing my neck again.

"Yeah, sure," I replied as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to calm it. "See you," I said as I left. I gave him a quick but thorough kiss before I disappeared.

*Lily

"Where do you want to go?" I asked James.

We went to a few different places, getting candy at Honeyduke's, a few amusing novelties from Zonko's, and a quill. We got lunch at the Three Broomsticks, sitting in a booth to ourselves near the door, which was wide open, the crisp autumn breeze smelling wonderful.

Eventually we headed back to the castle. We were laughing, sharing stories, and getting along. I couldn't believe it; he was a completely different person than I thought he was. Or maybe he had changed? I wasn't sure. Maybe I just saw all the things he did in a bad light, unlike now where I found his little quirks and jokes funny and cute.

When we got back, we sat down at the dinner table next to our friends, who were in the middle of a semi-heated debate. "Just tell us who it is," Black coaxed.

"You know we'll all find out eventually," Mary said. "I'll start; I have sex with Remus." Remus turned slightly pink. "Your turn." She looked pointedly at Sirius.

"I have meaningless sex with girls just for something to do," he said. "Now you go, Jessy."

"What's happening?" I asked Alice.

"Jess showed up, her hair messy and her buttons not matching, with love bites on her neck," she whispered. "And we wanted to know who she'd been shagging, but she won't tell us."

I looked around, carefully studying each table as Jessy argued with Mary and Sirius. None of the Slytherins, obviously. I studied down our own table, but saw no likely canadates. The Hufflepuffs? None of them seemed likely, either. They were cute, but Jessy hated them almost as much as the Slytherins. I looked at the Ravenclaw table, and… "Quigley," I said. Jessy froze, and slowly looked up at me. "You were at it with Alex Quigley, weren't you," I said with a laugh.

"No, of course not," she mumbled, a flush across her cheeks.

"Him?" Sirius said, scoffing. "Why him, of all people?"

"Obviously because you weren't available, Black," Mary said to him, rolling her eyes. "Nice grab, by the way. He's hot." We all glanced over, only to catch him looking at Jessy. He grinned, and Jessy groaned in defeat.

"Fine," Jessy said. "I was with him."  
"Are you two going out now?" I asked.

"I don't know."

I shook my head. Sirius was obviously trying not to let it bother him, and Jessy was refusing to look at him. They were messed up.

*Jessy

"Woah," I mumbled as I stood up. I staggered and almost fell to the floor, if the couch hadn't caught me.

"Someone's had too much to drink," James remarked from across the room.

"Blame it on another quidditch victory," I slurred. Black had made a point of showing up Alex, on purpose I thought. And I couldn't help but take advantage of the festivities.

"Need help up to bed?" Lily asked.

"No," I mumbled. I didn't know exactly where I was going as I righted myself. After a couple of balance checks, I started walking. I made it less than thirty steps before I found myself flat on the floor, having ran into something. I looked up, to see Sirius' face floating above me, laughing. "Bloody wanker," I mumbled.

"Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the view, but I'd rather not everyone in Gryffindor see where the sun don't shine, J."

"Huh?" I asked, looking down. My skirt was hoisted up, and I was wearing very lingerieish lingerie. "Oh." I just lay there, not doing anything, and suddenly I was up in the air.

"Come one, love. Up you go." I was hoisted over Sirius' shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and my heart raced as his hands grabbed the top of my thighs, between my stocking tops and my knickers.

"Mmm," I groaned, my imagination taking off in my drunken state.

"You alright?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Here we are." I was set down on a bed, not mine. "You need to sleep, Jess."

"I'm not tired," I complained. It was Sirius' bed; my home away from home. I giggled. It smelled great.

Sirius walked next to me. "You should just close your eyes."

I reached out and grabbed his arm. "Stay with me."

He sighed and, kicking off his shoes, sprawled out next to me on his twin bed. "Just relax, and in the morning we'll get you some hangover tonic." He sounded amused.

I loosened my tie, throwing it to the floor. My cardigan went next, and I unbuttoned the top and bottom few on my blouse. I kicked off my shoes, and pulled out my hair tie. "There, all relaxed," I told Sirius. I swear, he was watching every move I made like a hawk. "What's wrong?" I frowned.

"Er, nothing," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "It's just…well…we're friends, and… I'm not really thinking about you as a friend right now." I looked at his lap, and started laughing.

"Me?" I chuckled.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. But I never thought you liked me that way."

"Yeah, well, I'm kinda drunk, love."

"Same here." I laid my head on his chest.

"This isn't really helping the situation," he said. I looked; my leg was not so innocently hiked over his waist. And I was wearing a skirt, which only helped my case.

I sighed, trying to play it off as not a big deal. "So, I'm the one girl who is in your bed that you don't want to sleep with?" I asked.

"I just don't want to ruin our friendship." He looked straight at the ceiling as he said that. This was my one chance. I couldn't ruin it. I tried to get my drunk mind to focus.

I decided to do the one thing that would be foolproof. I pushed myself up, and kissed him. He didn't resist, but immediately kissed me back. I opened my mouth for him, and soon we were gasping for breath. Everywhere he touched raised goosebumps as he massaged my skin. I couldn't think, I just felt. I had been waiting so long for this moment. Sirius flipped us over so he was on top of me; I ran my hands through his hair. It was so soft, like silk. We separated, me gulping for air, as his lips ran down my neck, kissing and nipping. He made it down to my collarbone before he started unbuttoning my shirt. I thanked the stars I had worn matching lingerie today as he pushed the shirt off my shoulders. "You're so beautiful," he murmured. I reached out and started popping buttons on his shirt off, exposing his toned chest. He kissed me like no one ever had. Maybe it was different because I was in love? I did everything and more with Sirius, staying up hours into the night.

I woke up, sore between my legs. My head pounded, and I immediately sat up, wanting a hangover tonic. "Uuh," came from beside me. I looked down, startled, to see a naked Sirius Black. Even in my state, I couldn't help but smile.

I poked him, a sharp jab to the chest. "Do you have a hangover tonic?" I hissed. He blindly reached into his nightstand and grabbed a couple vials out. I greedily took mine and knocked it back. The effects started to go away instantly, and in a moment I was able to fully open my eyes. I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that I'd slept with Sirius.

"Uh, how are you this morning?" he asked, sitting up.

"Fine," I said. He was eyeing my naked body again, as I sat there exposed to him, which made my stomach flutter. I could tell; he still wanted me.

"And… about us…" he sighed. "Well, I'm not really sure what you want."

I smiled, knowing very well he didn't want to be tied down. "What you want would be the better question."

"Well, I'm not really looking for a relationship," he said. I tried to keep my face neutral as he ripped my heart to shreds. That probably didn't work all that well, because he then said, "But we can keep whatever this is going."

"Sex?" I asked with a laugh. "Sure, let's be sex buddies." He nodded, probably relieved.


	13. Chapter 13

"James," I shrieked.

"Yes, love?" he whispered huskily into my ear.

"Stop it!" I yelled, laughing as tears formed in my eyes. He was tickling me, and wouldn't stop.

"But I like seeing you under me, cheeks flushed and breathing hard." His smirk was so sexy, but I couldn't focus on him while I was being tortured.

I pulled out my wand and said, "protego!" and was immediately surrounded by a shield, pushing James a meter back.

"Okay, okay, you win," he surrendered with a laugh. I took down the shield, but looked at him skeptically. "Really, I won't tickle you," he said, putting his hands up.

"If you do, I'm not kissing you for the next twenty years," I told him seriously.

"Well, then I might as well get all the kisses in that I can, before the urge to tickle you becomes too strong." James leaned forward and I couldn't stop him; suddenly my will was not my own. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his lips met mine; would this feeling ever get old? The heat, passion, electricity, the want… it was incredible, and I relished the feeling every time. He pushed me over, onto the floor, to where I was completely at his mercy. There was something different about this kiss. It was hungrier than others, but I loved it. His hands roamed over my body, fingering the hem of my shirt. I couldn't breathe; I still wasn't used to the effect he had on me. I reached out and pushed his robes over his shoulders, and ripped at the buttons on his shirt. His glorious abdomen was revealed, and he shuddered as I ran my fingernails down his muscled chest. I traced the 'v' shape near the top of his pants, and his breathing stopped altogether. He groaned, and his hand went up my shirt. I gasped as he touched me like no one had ever before. I wondered why I'd always thought it would be awkward. "Is this okay?" he asked, his deep voice gruff. I nodded quickly, and he grinned as he continued, opening my shirt slowly, button by button. My breathing went into hyper mode, and my cheeks had to be bright red. And…

"Prongs, do you have – oh shit, sorry guys." James laid on top of me, hiding my exposed abdomen and bra from Remus, who had walked in.

"Would you mind leaving?" James said in a restrained voice. His head was buried in my neck, and he didn't look as Remus left. I started giggling, watching as Lupin sheepishly retreated. "What's funny?" James asked as he rolled off me.

"That was so… so awkward," I said with a grin. I rolled on my side, placing my hand on James' chest. His eyes raked up and down my front, and I hastily yanked closed my shirt. "We should have asked Jake to keep him out. Or better yet, use my password instead of letting people in randomly." I frowned slightly at James, who just smirked.

"Hey, you'd give me the password anyways, right?" his eyes twinkled hopefully.

"I suppose," I sighed.

"So you and Sirius?" I whispered. Jessy, Alice, Mary and I were working together to tame a venomous plant that had a nasty habit of sucking blood from things it latched on to.

"Yeah, but we still aren't anything." Jessy's face was lit up, and she seemed happy as well as wistful.

"But you two had sex," Alice pointed out, a bit loudly. A group of Slytherins gave us a dirty look, and Mary sneered in their direction.

"Yes," Jessy whispered. "But we aren't going out. Apparently, we're just friends with a little extra on the side now."

"Girls, get to work," Professor O'Brian said as she passed us, clearly disappointed in our lack of progress.

"Yes, sir," Lily agreed. As she walked away, Lily said, "Just ask him. What can it hurt? I'm sure he'd say yes. Anyways, before he chooses anyone else he'll probably stop with you, because he's not that kind of person. Which means that while you two are… friends with benefits, it'll be you and only you. Why not just make it official?"

"I'll see," I said. Inside, I'd never wanted to have an official boyfriend. My mum would try to get involved, and it would just be…horrid. But I supposed Sirius would be different. It was different. I wouldn't hesitate to call him my boyfriend.

As we walked back into the castle for lunch, I was suddenly grabbed from my friends by a hand I didn't see. I glanced and saw myself being smashed face-first into a painting of a baby. I closed my eyes…and was being snogged like never before. I wrapped my arms around him, breathing in Sirius' scent. Our tongues battled for control as he pressed me against a wall. I dropped my bag at the same time Sirius lifted me up, holding under my upper legs. I hooked my legs behind his back and ran my hands up his shirt, hastily untucking it. My mind was in a fog, I could hardly think. I just felt. The heat…I gasped as Sirius' hands made their way into my knickers, leaning my head back against the wall. His lips continued their trail down my neck, and I couldn't help but smile. "Hey," he whispered in my ear.

"Hi," I said breathlessly. His fingers made it impossibly hard to think. I was afraid that my breathing would be embarrassingly loud, but he didn't seem to notice. As he made love to me, I couldn't think of a better feeling in the world. I was silently screaming for joy when he nestled his head into my neck and nipped at my skin; for this moment, he was _mine_.

Eventually we heard people outside, chatting as they went to their next class. "We missed lunch," Sirius said as the bell tower rang off in the distance.

"And we're about to be late to class," I said. "Minnie will definitely give us detention."

He nodded in agreement. "I think she just needs a good shag, a fine thing like her."

I made a face as I hastily combed my fingers through my curly hair, trying to calm it. "Eew, she's like, forty, Sirius." I reached out and straightened Sirius' tie, pulling it tight and adjusting the collar as he tucked it in.

"And aging well," he remarked. "And it'd be like a public service, for the good of all students." I reached down and reattached my garters as Sirius blindly groped for the door in the dark. He cracked it open, and when the coast was clear we ran.

"I hope you aren't being serious," I said, slightly worried.

"Love, of course I'm Sirius," he said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at that; the joke was old in first year.

"Ugh, I liked those knickers," I giggled. "Maybe we can go back there, and look for them sometime," I said suggestively.

"You aren't wearing panties?" he whispered excitedly as we neared the door to Transfiguration.

"Sirius, keep it in your pants, we're going to class." I loved the way he was looking at me though; like lunch hour wasn't enough.

We hastily sat down at the last open table, next to each other in the back. Not a second too soon; Professor McGonnagal walked in and immediately started her theory lecture. I breathed out, relieved that I wasn't caught. Sirius was sprawled out in his seat, his long limbs looking too large for the table we were at. His leg was touching mine. I let my robes hand open, on either side of me. I hoisted my skirt up and crossed my legs, teasing him with the top of my stockings. "Damn," he whispered at me as he scooted his chair closer than it already was, to where we were practically touching.

"Don't get any ideas," I breathed to him. "I don't want to be expelled."

He groaned softly, and Professor McGonnagal heard. "Is there a problem, Mr. Black?" she asked.

"Not at all, Minnie," he said with a roguish smile and a wink.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," she said sternly, "And not another word out of you."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something as she turned away and started walking to the front, but reached out and grabbed his arm. "Behave," I whispered. He smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

I sat through the class, patiently keeping Sirius at bay; his hands were constantly touching me. Sometimes I'd let him get far, because McGonnagal wasn't going to notice; he'd do his best with the little time I allowed him before pushing his hands away and fixing my clothes. He'd continue stroking my leg, trying to slide his hands up all the way to touch me. I sometimes gave in; I swear he was trying to get me to scream right there in class. I then had to push his hands away before I made any sound. Finally, after what seemed like the longest class ever, the clock tower tolled in the distance. I quickly gathered up my things and started walking briskly to the common room with Lily, who wanted to exchange books before the next class. I told her to go on without me, that I'd catch up as she hurried away to Charms. I made my to the boy's dorm; I had just kicked off my shoes when Sirius burst in the door behind me. I didn't turn around as he came up to me; hugging me from behind and kissing my neck. He tore my shirt off; buttons scattered across the floor. I turned to face him. "I thought that class was never going to end," his gruff voice whispered in my ear. I groaned in agreement, momentarily forgetting anything but his hands.

And the door opened. "Agh," we heard. I looked to see it was Peter. I was on my stomach, facing him; he turned red. "Sorry, Sirius, Jessy," he mumbled, adverting his eyes. He quickly snatched a book from the floor and fled the room.

"Peter," Sirius said almost affectionately. "What would we do without him?"

"Just ask him out already," Lily hissed in my ear.

I jumped, brought out of my daydream. "What?"

"Stop staring at him," Mary said.

"I said to just ask him out already," Lily said again.

I shook my head. "He doesn't want that."

"And you're sure he hasn't changed his mind?" Alice asked.

I looked across the common room to where he was sitting and talking with Remus. "I'm sure."

*Lily

"Does Sirius want a relationship with Jessy?" I asked James.

"I haven't asked him," he replied. James pushed me back so I was laying on the couch. He took the scroll I had been reading and tossed it on the coffee table.

"But don't you think they should just make it official, since they're practically dating anyway?" I asked.

"I'm not so sure what they're doing is dating," James told me. He kissed my neck, lowering himself down onto me.

"You think?" I asked, trying to concentrate even though I could practically feel the heat rolling off of James.

"I think what we're doing, actually going on dates, is dating. They're just having sex."

"I suppose-" I let out an involuntary gasp as I felt James' hands reach up my shirt.

"Why the sudden interest in their lives?" James murmured against my neck.

"I…I forgot," I said. James pulled my shirt over my head. He touched me, and I liked it. A lot. I always thought that it would be weird to have a boy touch me like this. Of course I was wrong.

"Can I?" James whispered huskily as his hands went to the clasp of my bra.

"Uhh hu," I managed. Thankfully, he took that as a 'yes'. My breathing was almost embarrassingly loud; I watched his face as I tried to control my blushing. No one had ever seen me. I sighed in relief as his face turned to a look of desire. His mischievous eyes turned more serious. I reached out and yanked at his shirt; he slipped it off. I relished in the skin-to-skin contact as he lowered himself down on top of me and he attacked the inside of my mouth with his tongue. He touched me, fully for the first time, and I shivered, pleasant feelings rolling over my hyper sensitive skin.

"I love you, Lily," James whispered.

I opened my eyes to see him staring into mine. His hands stopped as he appraised me, my reaction. It was so soon… "I love you too, James."

"Finally," he whispered. His hands started touching me again, and I smiled in bliss.

"Ah, Miss Evans," Professor Slughorn called.

I sighed; I'd been avoiding a one-on-one chat with him for the whole school year. "Yes, Professor?" I asked. James automatically hung behind, slipping his hand in mine.

Slughorn strode nearer us, eyeing our twined hands with interest. "You've yet to come to any of my dinner parties this year, m'dear," he told me. I nodded, clearly implying that that wasn't a question. "I was hoping you'd be free tonight, eight o'clock?"

I made the first excuse I could think of. "I'm sorry, but I've got too much homework. I couldn't possibly."

"Too much homework?" he asked skeptically. I could see his eyes boring into mine, trying to decipher if I was lying or not.

"Yes, I've got a two foot essay in Defense Against the Dark Arts due tomorrow, I need to memorize ten new ruins for Ancient Runes, I've got to practice my spells for Charms and Transfiguration, and of course the two foot essay for you, Sir," I quickly rambled off.

He nodded thoughtfully. "And you, Mr. Potter? I've extended invitations for years, yet you've not once shown up." I looked at him, surprised. I always thought he'd been secretly jealous of not being included in what Slughorn considered the 'elite' students. And here he'd been invited all along. "You say it's because you have too much homework combined with your Quidditch practices, yes?"

"That's right, Sir," James said.

"Well, then I have the perfect solution. As long as you tell nobody, I'll let this assignment slide, just for the two of you." We must have looked confused, because he said, "Neither of you have to turn it in, as long as you attend dinner tonight."

I nodded with a fake smile. "Thank you, Professor."

I squeezed James' hand, and he smiled politely. "Indeed, thank you for your most gracious offer. I'm afraid we must go, however, or we will be late to our next class. And what example would it be if the Head Girl was late? Good afternoon, Professor Slughorn."

I waited until we were well out of earshot until I started giggling. "Well, what do you say?" I asked. "An hour of torture, or three of hand cramps and writing?"

James sighed dramatically. "I suppose we're going to dinner." He sounded so upset that I stopped our walking to give him a kiss. He smiled. "If you wanted to go that much, you could have just said so." We continued down the hallway.

"I don't. I hate those things, but it would be much better with you along," I confessed.

He grinned and kissed me again.

*Jessy

I woke up Christmas morning to Sirius rubbing my back. "Morning, Jessy." I sat up and stretched.

"Morning," I replied.

"Presents," he said excitedly. There were two piles at the foot of our bed. We started talking excitedly and admiring each other's gifts. Finally I was down to his, and he mine. "At the same time?" he suggested.

"Sure," I said easily. "Now." I ripped through the wrappings of the small box, and gasped in surprise at the beautiful necklace. I placed a finger on the red rubies encrusted along a golden heart pendant. "Sirius, it's beautiful," I whispered. I was certain, from the weight of the delicate chain, that they were real.

"Jess, these are perfect," Sirius said, delighted. I looked up and realized he was sorting through the box of Zonko's products I purchased for him.

"Sirius, this must have cost a fortune," I protested.

He looked up with a grin. "You're worth it, Jess."

"Thank you," I said. I leaned forward and kissed him thoroughly. "Help me put it on," I said happily.

"Sure," Sirius laughed. "I'm just glad you like it so much."

"I love it," I said.

"A pretty necklace for a pretty girl," Sirius said as he hooked the clasp. His lips went to my neck, brushing my ear and shoulder. "Go out with me," he whispered into the calm silence.

"What?" I asked. I was fairly certain I had misheard him.

"Jessy, be my girlfriend. Be mine. Go out with me," he said again. His lips returned to my bare skin, pushing aside my shirt.

"Yes," I said. Happy tears welled in my eyes. Finally.

*Lily

"James," I whispered.

"Hmm," I heard. A hand reached out and snatched me; I was pulled to James. He nestled his nose into my neck as I giggled.

"Good morning," I said between laughs.

He kissed my neck and then replied, "Good morning, Lils. Merry Christmas."

I kissed James. "Merry Christmas."

"Presents?" he suggested, sitting up and giving me a beautiful view of his glorious abdomen.

"Sure," I replied. We started ripping through wrappings and strings, giggling at the gifts we received. To my surprise, Mr. and Mrs. Potter sent me a gift certificate to Gladrags Wizardwear. "But I didn't send them anything," I said with a frown.

James smiled kindly at me. "You don't have to. They don't need anything."

"But it's the thought that counts, and I guess I hadn't thought much about your family. I didn't even really realize they knew about us."

"Here," James said. He handed me a small box. "It's from me."

"Thanks," I said automatically. I undid the ribbon and popped the lid. I screamed a tiny shriek. "James," I whispered.

"I know, I know. But listen." James grabbed my hand and tilted my chin to look him in the eyes. "I love you so much, Lily Evans. I love you more than life itself. I would die to protect you. If you asked me to walk to the ends of the earth, I would, for you." James opened the hangings and stood on the floor, pulling me to the edge of the bed. "Though we've only technically been together a short while, I feel as if nothing could ever get in the way of our relationship. We've seen each other through thick and thin. Nothing would make me happier than to be your husband, forever." My heart beat in overtime. James knelt to the ground, and I automatically stood up as he took both my hands in his. "Lily Evans, will you marry me?"

I was crying as I stood, a thousand thoughts rushing through my head in that moment. Instead of listening to my rational brain, which was screaming at me not to rush things, I nodded. "Yes. Yes, James Potter, I will marry you," I said, my voice becoming stronger with each word.

"Lily," he said as his arms surrounded me in an embrace. I greedily sucked in his scent as I flung my arms around him. This, forever? I could live with it. James grabbed my ring from the bed. "This is a Potter family heirloom," he told me. "It's fit for one person, and one person only, meaning the size will adjust to your finger, and not let anyone else wear it. Goblin made," he explained as he took it out of the box. "Set with sapphires and rubies around a four carat diamond."

"Jamie," I whispered as he slid it on my fourth finger. I looked up to see he had the widest smile in the world on his face. "Forgive me if I'm not too interested in the ring right now." I stepped forward and kissed him. "I love you," I whispered in his ear.

"I love you too, Lils."

**Author's Note:** Phhew, all done. Check out my next story, Conspiracy of Love.


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